A piece of photo equipment valued at $40, ended up costing me $100. My teacher did say photography tends to get expensive quickly… and in the oddest ways!
I was so excited about finally getting my flash diffuser and that joy was momentarily overshadowed.You see, when you go to Galaxy Photos on Bank Street, their parking is at the back of the building, not on the side. Having been bombarded by signs that all seem contradictory and being a customer of Galaxy, I figured, I’ll be here a minute and I’ll confirm whether or not this is the right spot for me to park. Having been told that the landlord was, (well, there are no flattering terms for him, so I’ll refrain)… I ran (yes, ran) out to move my car. Naturally, the person in question had already ticketed my car.
You read that right. Ticketed. Not “left a warning”, not “called the towing company”… Ticketed. Apparently, the City of Ottawa was so fed up dealing with this fella’s complaints, they awarded him his own ticketing book. I understand that it must be frustrating for downtown landlords to have to put signs up, give out warnings and call towing companies, but it’s important to remember that they are not city officials or officers of the law. Why are they allowed to take the law into their own hands? We don't even have that level of rights in civil disagreements... So who the heck gave this angry person the right to wear a vigilante badge and hand out tickets like they were candy canes? Merry Christmas to you too, Mr. Grinch!
To clarify: I saw signs that said “Private Property”, “Ticketed zone”, “For customers only”. My reasoning: I was a customer, I did my due diligence and went to confirm who’s customer I needed to be or if I needed to move… and bam, verifying just cost me $55 and an unpleasant encounter with an angry person.
For those of you considering shopping at Galaxy, and you should both their prices and their service are excellent, note that Galaxy parking is at the BACK of the building, via Catherine street, not next to them. There's a very unhappy Grinch operating to crush the holiday (and photog) spirit at 205 Catherine (it's a parking off Bank). BEWARE!
For those of you considering shopping at Galaxy, and you should both their prices and their service are excellent, note that Galaxy parking is at the BACK of the building, via Catherine street, not next to them. There's a very unhappy Grinch operating to crush the holiday (and photog) spirit at 205 Catherine (it's a parking off Bank). BEWARE!
Valuable lessons of the day:
5-Photography is an expensive hobby… always over-budget, sometimes it may surprise you.
4-If you complain enough, the authorities will do what they can to get rid of you. Sad fact.
3-Being a car owner sucks. Gas, Traffic, Bad tunes, Parking downtown, Tickets. I want to ride the tube!
2-If the parking signs are confusing, pack it up and move…
1-The miserable people of this world are probably in worse shape than I am. Letting it go is my best bet. Namaste.
No comments:
Post a Comment