Singled out for parking ticket
I found myself in something of a rush one recent evening and could not find a metered parking place in Wan Chai for the proverbial love or money.
I therefore took advantage of the small lay-by opposite the end of Thomson Road which, as any regular visitor to the area will appreciate, is a popular haunt for taxis whose drivers take their breaks about this time (9.25pm).
This I considered a reasonable risk as I was only going to be a few minutes, thinking, 'if it's good enough for the taxi boys it's good enough for me'.
You may imagine I was less than amused to find a ticket on the windscreen upon my return. You probably cannot begin to imagine how I felt to realise that my (private) car was the only vehicle in possession of one and that the same taxis I had parked alongside and among were completely 'unadorned'.
I would appreciate some form of explanation from the police as to just how this could be. Could it possibly be an example of the much-referred-to but seemingly never-seen powers of discretion officers are said to possess? If so, I take exception to being considered more worthy of a ticket than a cabbie or anyone else.
There are of course other possibilities, far more disturbing, which I am sure do not apply here. However, all people are treated equally, I hear continually from official sources, and that must mean private motorists as well as the laughably termed 'professional drivers'.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
