I have to go to court

I got a ticket a couple weeks ago in the parking lot in front of my apartment building. I thought I owed $11. A nuisance, and unfair if I explained it all to you, but who cares - you gotta pay it. I didn't think eleven bucks was worth contesting, so I went to city court in Franklin this morning to pay it. Um... no. It was $126. And that my friends, changed everything. I can't/won't/shouldn't have to pay that for where my car was - it's just crazy. Dumb. It's in the parking lot. Not blocking any garages or other cars. Just parked by a curb. For 6 hours. Midnight to 6 A.M.

This RUINED my day. I'm going to court next Tuesday in hopes that my (previously) spotless record might work in my favor for leniency. It's just maddening - it's like parking on the street in front of your house, and then getting a ticket because your car was "in the flow of travel." That's what the ticket said. But people park on the street all the time! And we DRIVE AROUND them. It's not a hazard. It's just what you do when there is no longer off-street parking available. And yet I'm not even talking about a street here - I'm talking about a lot directly in front of my apartment. SO. I had to calm down and realize that this is life - this is one of those things that I cannot control or plan (AH - there's the rub) - it's because I try so hard to be prepared and think of all the what-if's and cover my bases and plan for the unexpected - and then something like this happens that literally - I cannot control. I am learning SO much about myself lately; how I handle stress. Let's just say I've got a steep learning curve and plenty of room for growth. I also take things very personally that really aren't personal - like a ticket - and then I add to my list of reasons why A) God has forgotten me B) Life isn't fair or C) Some other melodramatic woe-is-me non-productive b.s. response.

Ugh. Self-discovery is hard. Learning you're pretty much just full of crap is hard. I let things get to me that DO NOT MATTER. In the big scheme of things. You can't let life's bumps in the road run you OFF the road. (I just made that up - not sure if it really "works" as a metaphor- I'm trying.)

With so much on my plate right now, this ticket feels like the straw that broke the camel's back (trying to cram as many cliches as possible into this thing.) That means, in other words, I'm hoping for a good result next Tuesday, because this whole business is really the least of things I should be thinking about. *sigh*

If you read this, you're obviously very bored. I'll hope for your life to get more interesting, too. Good luck.