From the Insider’s Guide to Athens (forthcoming)
Tip No. 42. You park downtown. You put money in the meter. You do some shopping. You pass your car walking from one store to another. A front tire is marked with yellow chalk. Don’t panic. Yes, the chalk was placed there by the parking enforcement authorities. But my sources — very highly placed (no, not that highly, but highly) — tell me you should panic only when you see three (3) chalk marks on your tire. Here’s why: Parking enforcement personnel take about an hour to make one circuit. So a tire with two marks means the car has been parked at least one hour. A tire with three marks means the car has been parked at least two hours. If an enforcement person happens upon a car with three marks already on it, that car probably has been there well over two hours, and the legal limit is two hours. Ticket time. The system, of course, has its shortcomings. My 14-year-old already has pointed out several of them. But this is reality, Greg, and we should be satisfied with systems that work well enough.
Fact: I lived in Athens for 6 years (it took me that long to “do” school) and paid not one ticket. You really needn’t bother. I never got a boot, I’ve never had the parking ladies chase after me and demand payment, but I did receive about 40+ tickets. I could have done like Dr. Deluca and paid all my tickets with pennies to stick it to the man, but I just said “Fuck it.” Shockingly similar to what I said to my education.
