yes yes yes yes YES!

to send things off with appropriate cheer, i received a $115 parking ticket within the last twenty-four hours of my last trip to new york, in january. it would be needlessly difficult to explain completely, but suffice it to say i made an honest mistake, and while not exactly a "legal" one, a mistake that the city of new york practically encourages hundreds of drivers to make every day. i knew i could contest the ticket--all i had to do was make a trip down to the friendly new york department of finance, and my hefty fine would almost certainly have been reduced, if not thrown out completely. but as this monster of a ticket was awarded mere hours before i headed back to michigan, i didn't have time for that. i thought about writing a letter: didn't do it. i thought about writing an e-mail: didn't do it. today, my last day before incurring a late fee, i decided just to write it off as a tribute to the gods of the city and pay the whole gruesome $115 online. i found my ticket on the department of finance website. yes, $115. yes, almost overdue. but what was this? gray saturn station wagon, four-door sedan, my exact plate number, state of MINNESOTA??? v. fowler, traffic cop; my nemesis, my savior: was it a willful error? an innocent mistake? all i know is i'm off the hook.