The Parking Authority

There are certain things that men, including AJ, feel strongly about: their chair, their car (or truck), and their parking space. Well, we have some new neighbors (all friends, since we live in employee housing), and I guess they didn't find the parking rules inherently obvious.

When we came home last night, this is what we found:

You will notice that the first two cars are angled toward our building. That is not acceptable to AJ. The cars are also not evenly spaced. Again, not acceptable. But most importantly, there is no room for AJ's truck! Completely and utterly unacceptable and inexcusable.

So, what choice did AJ have? He promptly went next to door to our single, male neighbor (we'll call him the Gator) and formed the OCPA, that is the Oaks (building next door) and Cedars (our building) Parking "Authority." (Yes, Authority is intentionally in quotations.)

AJ and the Gator drafted and hand-delivered the following notices to our neighbors. (Neighbors, many of whom read this blog, please note: I had NOTHING to do with these notices. I take no part in any parking disputes, since I HAVE NO CAR!) Okay, here's the notice:

Dear New Neighbors:

On behalf of the Oaks/Cedar Parking Authority, herein referred to as OCPA, we would like to make you aware of the parking regulations for the Oaks/Cedar area.

At the annual meeting held September 6, 2007, it was decided that the Gator would be re-elected to the position of Oaks representative and AJ would be re-elected to the position of Cedars representative. In the spirit of Hugo Chavez, these are lifetime terms.

If you have any problems that you would like addressed, please bring them to your representative, who will then represent you at the next OCPA meeting. If your concerns are not resolved in a favorable way, you may bring them to arbitration. Results through arbitration are final. (Arbitration means that the Gator and AJ will reconsider your case.)

At the November OCPA meeting, the "Authority" determined that parking in front of Cedars would be diagonal, with the nose of the vehicle pointed toward Route 30, and would be for AJ, the Gator and the M Family. All others must park behind Oaks.

Sincerely,
OCPA

Well, I guess the notices worked, because this is what we came home to this evening. (For those of you think that this picture is actually quite similar to the picture at the beginning of this post, you must be a woman. Trust me, there is a drastic difference to AJ.)

Nice work, OCPA. (Neighbors, please don't egg our truck.)