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The natural answer to the above question is “never.” Meter maids in D.C. never ever, ever, ever, ever miss the opportunity to slap you with a $30 ticket and a why-does-this-shit-always-happen-to-me-?-attitude for the rest of the afternoon.
But that response is actually wrong. Sometimes, the ticketing officers relent, and it looks like they may be doing it more in the future. At-Large Councilmember Michael Brown has just introduced a bill that would stop parking enforcement officers from ticketing funeral attendees, according to ABC 7.
And you can bet the city already looks the other way during Easter, Christmas, Ramadan, the Jewish high holy days and ___________ (insert important religious holiday of your choosing here—-the lessons of RELI 101 are fast fading.)
Yesterday was Yom Kippur, a somber Jewish day of atonement and fasting—-and, in the case of my family, parking illegally on the residential streets of Cleveland Park, near our synagogue. Last weekend, during Rosh Hashanah—-another important Jewish Holiday marking the new year—-we also parked illegally.
These trangressions were blatant, albeit not inconsiderate. We didn’t double-park, or park in front of a hydrant, or a driveway. We just parked on the corner, in a no-parking zone. And we got away with it twice. No problem.
Perhaps, we lucked out. Or perhaps, an order comes down on high instructing the meter maids to neglect Cleveland Park during the high holy days. No internal documents stating the later have been revealed to me. But, why not? After all, D.C.’s Christians have also gotten their breaks in the past. In December 2007, the Department of Public Works issued this statement, according to a WTOP story:
“D.C. government was fully operational Dec. 24, including parking enforcement; but we believe that many people thought enforcement was lifted since federal workers were given the day off.”
If you received a pink slip of your windshield during rush hour Monday, there is no need to dispute it with DPW or with the D.C. DMV. The tickets are being corrected electronically.