parking attendant

I had to be at work at 7am this morning for an all day meeting. Not the greatest way to start a Monday. To make things even more annoying, parking at the meeting was $19 (which I can submit to my company for reimbursement), but of course, the place did not take credit cards. Did I have cash? Nope.

But the parking attendant guy made my day. He still made me pay of course, but he said to come back and pay him during a break after I found an ATM.  One thing I hate about ATM machines is the fees, which in my case came to $3. Is $3 dollars a lot of money? No, but I just hate paying for things that bring zero value.

So I willingly complied, and returned with cash in hand about an hour or two later. I give him a $20, and he asks me how much the ATM fee was. I tell him it's so ridiculous how they make you pay $3 for a simple transaction and he agrees with me, to which he hands me back four $1s. I tell him he's given me too much, but he just smiles. I say, "Are you sure?!?"

"Of course." *

I thank him and he hands me this parking pass. He then quickly grabs it back and says he'll go and put in on my car (which is parked two levels down) so I don't have to go all the way back.

How sweet is that?

It was a good morning.


* Did he just cheat his company? Maybe... But he made me happy, so I'm ok with it.