Courtesy of 41 South near Oshkosh where they’re redoing it over the bridge. I can’t remember the exact wording (and I sped by it doing 80) but it read something like this:
EMERGENCY PARKING ONLY
MAX 2 HOURS
So in the case of an emergency–which is primarily defined as “A serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action”–feel free to park on the space we’ve allotted for you.
Just DO NOT let your emergency go over two hours, you insensitive asshole. How dare you use our precious highway space for longer than two hours in case of an emergency. I mean, it’s not like your tax dollars are paying for this!
Beyond that, one would hope that if you park in that space due to an emergency, that before the allotted two hours are up A) someone with a cell phone would call you in (if you didn’t have one of your own, which is rare nowadays) or B) I don’t know…maybe a cop would drive by? Serve and protect and all that jazz?
Yeah, I get that the intent is so people just don’t pull over to the side of the road and fire up a blunt. Or change a kid’s diaper. Yet, if a car is sitting there more than two hours, I wholeheartedly expect a cop to have investigated it by then.
And why two hours then? If an emergency is defined as a situation that needs immediate attention, then why not make it fifteen minutes? If it’s not a true emergency then you shouldn’t be parked there longer than that. Unless your car has broken down, which would fall under the aforementioned situations of being handled.
That’s right. It’s been sticking in my craw since Friday. And believe you and me, my craw is not something you want to be stuck in.
