THE RANT: 11/09/11

Dear fellow parking violators at the University of South Dakota,

After complaining about the poor or unfair parking of individuals around me, I went ahead — with brash hypocrisy — and decided to park in the lot west of the Muenster University Center. This would’ve been fine if I had used a meter, but I was too lazy to dig a quarter from my bag. So instead, I just parked in the visitor’s section. All I was doing was getting coffee. Ten minutes tops!

Well, somewhere within those 10 minutes, I was ticketed. I am proud to say that I did not beg the public safety official to not ticket me. I kept my dignity when I politely asked him, “Could I maybe not be ticketed?” To which he replied, “Nope.”

I’m a poor college student, so I decided I was still going to try to get out of paying the $30 parking ticket — that coffee was the most expensive coffee I’ve ever had. So I went to the public safety building to see what could be done.

I was very polite, and I think that’s the key. I was courteous, so the woman behind the desk at the public safety building was very receptive to my courtesy. She instructed me on how to properly appeal the ticket online and sent me on my way. I then proceeded to locate the appeals page on the University of South Dakota website.

The grounds for my appeal was the fact that this was the first time I’ve ever been ticketed, and I’ll never do it again. It worked! The next week I received an email saying that my appeal had been granted and I owed nothing to the school. I was ecstatic! That $30 I would’ve had to spend on that dumb ticket is now going directly into my gas tank. Huzzah!

Although I was a hypocrite for parking where I am not eligible to do so, I managed to navigate the school’s system and avoid punishment. It may seem like I got off too easily, especially to those students who have paid for parking tickets in the past. Rest assured that I have learned my lesson.

I have learned that sweet-talking the man sometimes works, and in order for a person to change something, like the status of a ticket, a person needs to actively search for ways to do so. Sitting around and accumulating more parking tickets certainly doesn’t help, but a trip to the public safety building and a smile might.

Sincerely, Brittany Sudbeck,

Sophomore