My friend just learned of the wrath that the Kaiserslautern parking meter readers will bring upon anyone who parks improperly. Her parking permit was an hour expired and she was assessed a 45 euro parking fine as a result. Yikes!
The really crummy thing is that this happened in November and she only just learned about it on Monday. I think it's lousy that it takes so long to get notified.
Take this as a word of warning, visitors and residents of Kaiserslautern: pay close attention to parking meters! It's also important to observe whether it's a shopping district parking meter where one can only park for 2 hours and 55 minutes vs. a parking meter that allows 24-hour parking.
They won't send tickets or admonitions before Christmas. Isn't it the same in the US? But still to get it in march is really a long time.
ReplyDeleteWe have a saying: Die Mühlen des Gesetzes mahlen langsam aber stetig.
What? Are you serious? If so, that seems...ridiculous not to send tickets before Christmas! Do they want it paid or not? It takes a long time to get the ticket, but heavens forbid if the person doesn't pay it immediately.
ReplyDeleteSo you dont have this in the US? Huh weird. If you read the news around christmas it is mentioned sometimes. I even found a Wikipedia page: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsfrieden_(%C3%96ffentlicher_Dienst)
ReplyDeleteI think it is partly because of the spirit of christmas and partly because of the higher suicides rates before christmas.
Oh, I get it now :) I thought you meant more that they didn't send the tickets because they didn't want to upset people before the holidays, not because the offices were closed.
ReplyDeleteIn the US, it varies, but typically the only day that is actually closed is Christmas day itself. This year, the President also gave federal employees one more day off for the Christmas holiday, and New Year's Day was a holiday too.
When I worked at a pizza restaurant during college, the only two days the restaurants were closed were Thanksgiving and Christmas day, and employees were not given holiday pay. Oh, the joys of the US employment system...