By David Whitney
The other day I was jogging over to Marcus White to drop off the remainder of my health forms to get rid of the hold on my account. On my way back, as I was just along the side of Willard Hall, I looked up from my studious walk to see my car being towed.
At this point, half of me is furious whereas the other half is wondering how the heck my car got towed so fast. It seriously took me four minutes to complete the task and yet my car was already halfway down Paul Manafort Drive.
I’m new to CCSU but I’m often very careful where I park. What I neglected to pay attention to this time was the giant sign that’s on display for morons like me in the parking lot at the plaza on the corner of Paul Manafort Drive and Stanley Street. What does that sign say? ‘No student parking.’
This is a warning to all of you reading this. Don’t park there or you will get towed! You will also get towed quite fast, because the tow truck drivers in the New Britain area told me that they regularly circle around the plaza. Apparently students park there all the time.
“Those spots are only for business use,” the tow truck driver told me. “People park their vehicles and just walk across the street.”
I wanted to ask him how the heck he gets there so fast. Do people get paid to sit in the parking lot and watch everyone who comes in? If it happens as much as he says it does, the local towing companies have to be making a ton of cash.
When I went to pay my penalty, the owner seemed to show some sympathy for me.
“I won’t charge you the whole amount,” he said.
The full amount was $94 and he ended up charging me $88.
Yeah, thank you for saving me six dollars! That’s a huge discount.
Anyone who ever goes and gets a bite to eat or a cup a coffee during their day should stick around and observe the lots. Two days after my ordeal, I walked by and saw a car being towed by another towing company that wasn’t the one that towed my car.
Workers at the Dunkin’ Donuts inside the plaza all said that there are tow trucks there all the time picking up cars and bringing them downtown to their yards.
I’m not looking for support and I’m certainly not writing this to say that students should be able to park wherever they like. I respect local businesses and I’m at fault for parking there, but I feel it’s valid to get it out there to be careful where you park your car.
Trust me, you don’t want to end up giving away all your hard-earned money just because you parked there for a few minutes or for one class.
It’s not worth the risk, especially at that plaza because it’s monitored so well.
Jeez, 88 bucks! I could have gone out to a nice restaurant with three friends and at the end of the night say, “I’ll take care of the check guys.” They would have loved that.
I guess now I’ll just think about what could have been and start looking for three friends.
All kidding aside, please pay attention to all parking signs. Your bank account will thank you.