Ticket and Tow
and
if that does not change behavior
scan their records and issue the Death Penalty

today I did the cross town drive to drop Dean off at Daycare
lisa had the pleasure of taking Roscoe and Brutus into the woods which is currently a winter wonderland
while I ventured the city streets of Washington DC where I had to wrestle the anarchy which is a SNOW DAY
easy enough..... finish feeding the boys.... get Dean dressed... leave Grant in his PJs.... load up the Element... clear snow of car as engine warms up.... and go!

not so easy....

there are a few barriers slowing the flow of traffic
the primary "butt plug" causing traffic delays are the cars left parked over night and not moved for Rush Hour in the morning
it would be a harsh education for the owner of this car to wake and find their car gone
well, they are ready for that education as common courtesy is not inspiring them to move their cars

sadly there is an economic component
the law is not administered judiciously
in so many cases the law is imposed on various groups more so than others....
in the case of tickets and towing....
the more affluent neighborhoods are more likely to be ticket and/or towed than in the less affluent neighborhood
the Rush Hour streets near Dupont are flushed clean each morning, by the owners of the cars and by the DOT work force
but not in Columbia Heights or Shaw
as there are too many cars sitting in the lots at Traffic Adjucication as it is
they can not take any more cars in that will not be picked up
so they tow the cars of those who they know can afford the fines
rather than risking picking up another car that will never be retrieved

okay.... this is unfounded theory on my part
but
in my limited experience
in my limited scope this is what appears to be happening

I know some of this is true
I do not know if the economic discrimiation against the middle and upper class is actually policy
or
just something in my head
as Ezra will tell you the inner workings of my head are a dangerous place...

the other barriers?
people are idiots and assholes (sorry, more cussing on my BLOG, my bad.... but they are)
there are people who are doing drop off and pick up all along these city streets causing temporary blockage
death penalty?
hmmmm....
I would settle for public shaming or maybe caneing...

either way I survived
had a few close calls doing that cross town drive
it seems that stopping at stop signs throws driver's off
nearly got rear ended a few times

managed to keep my speed bellow 40mph, rarely over 35mph

I did almost cause a little backlog at the red light at 14th and Columbia Road in Columbia Heights
when I saw Soledad's high school age son Jose..... I could not help but shout hey
he did not see me....
so I played the hurt lover and accused him of being too cool with his friends to say hey
he claimed he had not seen me
they
just when he thought he was safe and had escaped me.....
I got out of my car and started a snowball fight....
neither of us connected with the target
but the energy of the moment was there.....
public shaming or caneing for my behavior?
nope.... I was back in my car and rolling just as the light turned green....
even "juked" the car in the center lane at pole position to pass one of those wrongfully parked cars

time to suit up and head to work