Thwarting the DPT...One Block At A Time

San Francisco's in a bit of a budget mess this year, so I guess this makes me a villain. But sometimes sticking it to the man just feels right.

I walked out today to go to Munroe Motors for some parts, and as I turned onto 15th St I noticed a lone DPT Cushman coming up the street, issuing tickets en masse. It's Saturday morning, so a lot of cars parked overnight and their owners haven't been able to come out and feed the meters. And the DPT just queues meter maids up right before meter hours start so they can maximize revenue. They've been tagging as many people as possible, issuing very questionable citations (Chris from MotoJava got one for not curbing his wheels...he was parked on a flat block) as quickly as possible, then scurrying off to the next victim.

Having been victimized by the DPT on several occasions, I saw red. But instead of getting in the guy's face and risking arrest, I decided to beat him at his own game. I fished out my coin holder, surreptitiously walked up to every expired meter, and started feeding in quarters. I even managed to cross the street several times to feed meters on the other side without being seen. After saving 7 cars from tickets between South Van Ness and Mission, I decided to continue my altruism all the way to Valencia. In that block alone, I managed to save 10 people from expensive tickets. I made it to Valencia, stood on the corner waiting for the light to turn, and the meter maid pulled up...By that time I had run out of quarters, and had used my parking cards to save the last couple of vehicles. I made sure I was holding those parking cards in plain view as the meter maid pulled up to the intersection, scowled at me, then went on his way. Score one more for the little people.