(Inspired by and dedicated to Robin and Susan Shelley)

My car is my friend

He takes me to any place I want to go

He never complains

As long as I feed him fuel

And service him occasionally

He sleeps at my home most nights

Safe and sound

But sometimes we take risks

Parking in places where we have to pay

When we go to dinner or to an event

The clock is then ticking loudly in my mind

Making it hard to enjoy myself

Knowing that my rented parking time is running out

I never want to waste my parking fee

So I try to get back to the car just before it expires

When I get back a little late

The thrill of going over time

Is reward by the lack of a parking ticket

We all like to dodge a bullet

It does not always work out that way

As I frantically run back to my car

Believing that all will be fine

I can see from a distance

Something is not right

The dreaded ticket is sitting there on my windshield

Held in place by my wipers

They are supposed to protect me by cleaning away rain

But today they are guarding a parking ticket

What traitors

I run out of expletives when I read it

The fine is many times more than the parking fee

With serious penalties if I do not pay

I pay the fine and decide I will never to do so ever again

Vowing to forever overload my parking prepayment

To be sure I never get another ticket

It works out fine

For a while

Then I slip back into my just-in-time parking fee mode

Dancing with the parking ticket devil

Most times I win that dance with glee

Doing a jig next to my car whenever it works out

Until the devil has his way

He dances when I pay the parking ticket fine