Just the Ticket
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Last night at dinner a colleague of mine, The Laser, told me the following story;
"So, I was walking in the city yesterday and I spot two of those big Army trucks, y'know, the ones that carry about twenty soldiers. They're parked near the Queen St mall.
About fifty metres up the street I'd noticed a council parking officer, happily doing his job writing tickets. The tickety gets to the Army trucks and looks at the meter, and sure enough, it's out. So he starts writing a ticket.
Next thing you know, the Army driver shows up. As we all do in the same situation, he starts arguing with the council guy. The driver's pretty pissed off, and has a good go at the him. Of course this is a waste of time; the tickety replies - with emphatic gestures - that he's already started writing the ticket, so it simply must stand.
A policeman wandering by hears the argument, and he comes bustling over to sort it out. He doesn't; the debate just becomes more heated. The three of them are standing in the street, yelling at each other about a parking ticket, that some government will have to pay for anyway.
So, now I'm thinking, "Man, I'd love to stay and watch this, but I'm gonna miss my train", so I head off. But I can't help thinking who won in the end... the bloke with the handcuffs and baton, the guy with the rifle and combat boots or the wee man with the PDA and pen.
I'm guessing it was the pen; being mightier than the sword an' all."
"So, I was walking in the city yesterday and I spot two of those big Army trucks, y'know, the ones that carry about twenty soldiers. They're parked near the Queen St mall.
About fifty metres up the street I'd noticed a council parking officer, happily doing his job writing tickets. The tickety gets to the Army trucks and looks at the meter, and sure enough, it's out. So he starts writing a ticket.
Next thing you know, the Army driver shows up. As we all do in the same situation, he starts arguing with the council guy. The driver's pretty pissed off, and has a good go at the him. Of course this is a waste of time; the tickety replies - with emphatic gestures - that he's already started writing the ticket, so it simply must stand.
A policeman wandering by hears the argument, and he comes bustling over to sort it out. He doesn't; the debate just becomes more heated. The three of them are standing in the street, yelling at each other about a parking ticket, that some government will have to pay for anyway.
So, now I'm thinking, "Man, I'd love to stay and watch this, but I'm gonna miss my train", so I head off. But I can't help thinking who won in the end... the bloke with the handcuffs and baton, the guy with the rifle and combat boots or the wee man with the PDA and pen.
I'm guessing it was the pen; being mightier than the sword an' all."
Unfortunately it's always the bureaucratic weenies who win in our society. As in futurama we seem to believe that "technically correct is the best kind of correct".