Random act of kindness a good thing?

By David Menzies - Canwest News Service

You'll have to excuse the smirk on my face these days, but I'm feeling vindicated

Indeed, I'm feeling a lot like Dr. Richard Kimble in that episode of The Fugitive when, at long last, it's proven that there really is a one-armed man responsible for the murder of the good doctor's wife. OK, I might not be feeling exactly like that. But I am feeling somewhat pumped as my quest for parking meter justice has finally come to an end.

By way of explanation, my emergence as a fugitive (criminal mastermind?) dates back to October when I committed an act of altruism: Namely, paying some¬one else's parking tab so the person wouldn't receive a $30 parking ticket.

Oh, you didn't know that such a deed is strictly verboten in the City of Toronto? Well, neither did I. And a scalawag who acts in such a manner will surely pay a price, such as being detained by police, receiving an incident report and being threatened with arrest.

To think I was merely following the edicts outlined in a poster entitled Life's Little Instructions, a collection of touchy-feely rules to live by. It was Instruction #46 - "Feed a stranger's expired parking meter" - that had your correspondent running afoul of the law. Undoubtedly, the author of Life's Little Instructions, H. Jackson Brown, Jr., is oblivious to the fact that random acts of kindness aren't looked upon too kindly by Toronto's parking enforcement officers.

That was my life lesson leamed back in October when I purchased a Pay and Display receipt for a grey Mazda3. The officer - who was apparently about to issue a ticket to the hatchback - wasn't amused. Actually, she was very upset.

"It's not your car! It's none of your concern!" she snapped before speeding off in her Chevy compact.

Undeterred, I went off on my merry way sporting a fistful of quarters, saving all manner of vehicles from tickets. At one point, I was walking in another area. Just my luck: That very same officer was on patrol there.

She dialled 911. In record time, a police cruiser appeared on the scene. (Can you imagine the dispatch¬er's instructions? "Calling all cars! Meter feeder on the loose!") I was detained for about 40 minutes as one of Toronto's Finest wrote up an "incident report."

The constable said I could've been charged with "obstruction:" Police are taking parking very seriously in Hogtown these days.

I later discovered that according to Chapter 910 (Parking Machines), Section 4, Sub-Section A, it is the "parker's responsibility" to feed the meter in Toronto. But, did I really deserve my pristine record to be blemished for this? Like Dr. Kimble, I spent the last several months. trying to clear my name.

With the urging of a Toronto City Councillor, I sent a letter to Police Chief William Blair. He is obviously a reasonable man, and my case for clemency travelled its way down the Toronto Police Service food chain.

Recently, I took receipt of a letter from Wes Ryan" Superintendent, Parking Enforcement Unit. Thankfully, it wasn't a summons.

"The investigator ... is of the belief that there was no criminal intent on your part in regard to your actions on that date and, as a result, has recommended that the said record of contact be removed from our database."

Hallelujah.

Granted, there are two sides to every story. But the parking enforcement officer who called the police is declining to comment. Too bad. My interview would've entailed asking just a single question. Namely: What were you thinking?
(NATIONAL POST)