Everyone has their button, their Achilles heel; the one thing that sets them off or defeats them. For me it is injustice and being wrongly accused.
Something in particular that really sets me off in Cyprus is the way that somehow, I always get unfair parking fines. My husband and I are the kind of people who will turn back and go home if we can't find legal parking, rather than park illegally. We will always put money in the metre or send the text message, yet, somehow, we always (unfairly) end up on the wrong side of the law, or rather, Sods Law!
Last week I parked on a metre, sent my text to pay and went off to the shop I needed to visit. When I got in, I noticed that I hadn't received a text message back confirming my payment and remarked to the shop assistant that I was going to get booked for sure, then promptly resent the text. Said shop assistant was telling me not to worry, it wouldn't happen. Then after some time, two text messages came back confirming my parking; the one from earlier and the one that I resent. Phew I thought! Anyone else would have been okay, but I knew in the pit of my stomach that the parking curse would strike again, and of course it did! I returned to the car, found a ticket and tracked down the traffic warden who wrote it. She was very nice and told me that often the text messages delay and there is a crossover from the time the traffic wardens get sent the message and the time they are booking. Do not worry she assured me, happens all the time, go and talk to the traffic department and all will be resolved… but still I knew, 'I am parking cursed'.
When I went and explained, they were very nice but the computer had no record of the first text. I showed them the messages on my phone, they jotted it all down and said that they would look into it. The next day I got a call saying that my fine was valid, that the time on their system that the text was sent was later than the time of the fine. I won't bore you with the half hour that ensued of me shouting, pleading injustice, getting offended that they thought I was lying and would make a fuss over €8 for no reason, that I would be daft enough to send a text after I got a fine, and, and, and. The call concluded with the gentleman telling me he would put it to the committee. Well, I have no doubt that it will not rule in my favour and I will have to pay the fine.
When I worked in Nicosia, I had to park in residential streets as our office had no parking. I got three tickets on three separate occasions for parking outside people's houses where the entire neighbourhood parked its cars (but strangely no one else got a ticket). There were no yellow lines, no 'no parking' signs and when I went to contest them, I was told that technically, everyone who parks outside of their house is parking illegally. Apparently, just because there is nothing telling you that you cannot park, it doesn't that you can park; there has to be a sign giving permission to park. When I retorted with the fact that every single home owner would then be fined if that was the case, they told me that if they wanted to fine them, they could and if I tried to contest the tickets I would only incur a lengthy and expensive court case. I paid them of course (they were €45 each…) but knew that the real reason I had received those tickets was probably because I had parked outside the houses of various residents who had then called the police and told them I was parking outside of THEIR property and to fine me to teach me a lesson not to park there again.
So, I am left with this feeling of complete rage and helplessness when I am wrongly accused or treated unfairly. The fact that the little person can never go against the authorities and receive justice because it will always be their word against that of a person in power's scares me no end. That and the fear that these unfair parking fines will eventually bankrupt me!
