…apparently the same can be said for logic.
I was in Queanbeyan today and walked past a rather amusing incident. A parking inspector was writing a parking ticket for a car, and noticed that the driver of the car behind this one was about to get in to his car.
The parking inspector called out “You’ll be getting one of these in the mail” to which the driver replied “Why, what did I do wrong?”. The parking inspector pointed at a bus zone sign and said “It’s a bus stop” to which the driver quite remarkably replied “Oh, but I only read the green sign”.
The tone of the message indicated that the driver thought he was innocent because he only read one sign (it was a shared zone, a red sign indicated the times that it is a bus stop, and the green sign indicated the times that it’s a car park). Putting the fact that the green sign indicated that the spot was not a car park at the time of the incident to one side, the logic behind this statement is quite astounding.
Based on this driver’s logic, if you walk in to a store and want to purchase a $1000 television for example, you could claim that when you read the price tag it said “$100”, and the store would be required to sell the television to you for $100.
The parking inspector had the final word before producing the parking ticket when he informed the driver that “you have to read all the signs”.
The whole incident, and especially the final line from the parking inspector, amused me immensely, although I would have to admit that the notion of that man driving a car on a public road does concern me.
Samuel
Comments Disabled To "They say that common sense isn’t all that common…"
#1 Comment By davky On July 26, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
You really do get out and about, Sambo.
#2 Comment By Samuel On July 26, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
I’m on a night shift at the moment, so I have plenty of time during the day to do things. (Although I probably should have been sleeping).
#3 Comment By Pen 15 On July 26, 2007 @ 6:05 pm
That is very entertaining.
But, I think youre being a little harsh on the guy, Sam. Whenever I park in a loading zone or the handicap spot, I’ve always got some flimsy excuse at the ready in case I get a ticket.
Maybe this was just the guys flimsy excuse, hoping he would get a sucker for an inspector.
#4 Comment By Hamesucken On July 26, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
My excuse would have been,
“But this is a bus! Didn’t you get the memo from Deane’s?”
That one usually works.
#5 Comment By Samuel On July 26, 2007 @ 7:06 pm
Perhaps Pen, but I definitely prefer Hamesucken’s excuse. Any parking inspector with a sense of humour would be obliged to let you off with a warning with that excuse.
#6 Comment By Pen 15 On July 26, 2007 @ 11:42 pm
A parking inspector with a sense of humour? You obviously don’t drive, Sam!
#7 Comment By Samuel On July 27, 2007 @ 12:56 am
I had a conversation with a parking inspector once and she had a sense of humour. That being said, she wasn’t preparing a parking ticket for me.
I’m not so sure about a different one in a different place though.