Monday Madness: The Good Deed That Bit Them in the Ass

Finding a parking spot in Rotterdam at the best of times can be a challenge.  Parking garages can make you feel like you have entered an advanced manoeuvres course and on-street parking is minimal, to say the least.  So it was great news to hear that the good people of Rotterdam had decided that they would do their good deed for the year and make parking free in the city (not including parking garages) on New Year’s Eve.  Okay, technically they weren’t being nice but instead were just trying to prevent the machines from being blown up by fireworks.  But it was just Christmas so let’s pretend they were being nice, holiday spirit and all that!

Turning off the machines wasn’t done in the most organized manner.  There were articles in the paper warning drivers that if the machine wasn’t turned off where you were parking then you still needed to pay, despite it being New Year’s Eve and we saw streets where half the machines were closed and the other half weren’t.  But hey, free parking is free parking.  Now, fast-forward a bit.  The fireworks have gone off, all the oliebollen have been eaten and a lot of champagne has been sprayed into the atmosphere.  It’s 2011 and for the people in Rotterdam, all their Christmases have come at once.

Because come 2011, when the workers went to turn the parking machines back on, they couldn’t figure out how to get it to work.  I imagine them out there following a sort of IKEA like instruction booklet.  In the end, it took them all the way until yesterday, January 9th, to figure it out and get everything working again.  So, if you were in the city, I hope you enjoyed your free parking for nine days.  If you work for Rotterdam, next time just say you are turning off the machines as a good-will gesture, maybe then karma won’t turn round and bite you in the ass!

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