― Tennessee Williams
While walking
through the shopping district of a nearby city, I saw what appeared to be a
city employee with Ambassador written across the back of his shirt. He seemed to be stopping at parking
meters. Intrigued, I asked him what
being an Ambassador for the city entailed.
"Well, I
walk up and down the street checking on the meters," he said.
"You're
an 'Ambassador' and you give parking tickets?" I asked.
"Yes,
that's what I said when I started the job," he said.
A very
friendly guy (ambassador material to be sure, but for his task), he said that
he is amazed by how happy some people get when they see him giving tickets to
other people. "It's really
mean," he said.
I then asked
him whether it was illegal for people to put money in other people's expired
meters.
"Who's
going to stop them?" he said. And
he shared that sometimes as he is getting ready to write a ticket, someone will
ask if she can put money in the meter for the person.
"It's
refreshing," he said. "To know
that there are people still like that. And they're complete strangers."
Within the
ticket-writing Ambassador beats a kind and hopeful heart.
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