Scene and heard

At the gym last Wednesday, Soni, the instructor, was in rare mood. This was her final class before going on a cruise. And she worked us good! When it came to the calf and thigh exercises, right leg first, she threw in several twists and was clearly having fun deciding the next exercise as she went along. I joked that she would never remember the whole sequence for the left leg. The ensuing banter had everyone laughing. Previously, she ran us through a number exercises with weights without any break in between and I had commented that we weren’t going on vacation. She said that the tougher class was nothing to do with her going away. And I believed her! I believed her as much as I believed a letter I got from the NY Department of Motor Vehicles in the winter of 1994/5.

It had snowed, and alternate side parking rules were suspended. I needed to drive into the City that day and parked on a West Side street that was lined both sides with cars. I asked a nearby building guard if it was OK for me to park there (like he’d know!). When I got back 2 hours later, each car had a parking ticket. I contested mine, on the grounds that if normal parking rules were suspended, no tickets should be written. This seemed logical to me. I do know not to expect logic from Government Agencies. Honest, I do! But that doesn’t mean that the lack of it never frustrates me! I got a response some time later that I have kept to this day, it was so nonsensical. I paraphrase: “We are overturning this ticket. It has nothing to do with the case made in your letter. Rather, we found irregularities with the way the ticket was written.” As I recall, my reaction at the time contained sarcastic, incredulous laughter and a liberal sprinkling of expletives.