Dear Towing Company and Whoever Designed This Town’s Parking Situation,

I hope you are doing well. I truly do. I hope that my $400 contribution to your office was spent well. I hope it’s keeping the lights on, funding a new coffee machine, or perhaps contributing to the gas money needed to tow another student.

This past week, I decided to park my car in a spot that I haven’t ever parked in before. About 10 hours later, I went back to pick up my vehicle.

I can’t really explain the feeling of walking back to where you parked your car and only seeing a blank spot. No car, just straight pavement. I took a double-take around the visitor lot, thinking I just forgotten where I parked it.

To my surprise, it wasn’t the visitor lot.

My car was definitely towed.

My stomach dropped, my heart started racing, and my only thought was, “How am I going to explain to my parents that my car got towed?”

After picking my car up from the tow yard, I saw a ticket sticking out of my windshield wiper. It was a warning issued at 10:38 p.m., when my car was towed at 11:00 p.m.

22 minutes. You read that right. 22 minutes.

I would like to formally acknowledge that, yes, I did technically park illegally.

Not maliciously. Not rebelliously.

Just optimistically and accidentally. The sign was covered with snow!

As a broke college student who considers Taco Bell a financial commitment, I would just like to ask a few questions.

Why is the parking in State College structured like a riddle?

Let’s start with the signage. Why does every single sign contain a list of:

• A two-hour parking sign
• No parking from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. for “street cleaning.”
• A permit-only restriction
• And arrows that point in directions that don’t even make sense to the spot

Why are the garages $1.50 an hour during the week and suddenly priced like we are looking for parking at the Super Bowl during event weekends?

Why does every spot require a permit that is either sold out or overpriced?

I respect the hustle. I do. But the efficiency with which my car was towed suggests that somewhere in this town, there is a company (I won’t name names) just waiting to remove a car that was parked 22 minutes too long.

I understand that rules are rules. But I would like to argue that when the rules require a magnifying glass, a stopwatch, and a law degree, we have officially gone too far.

So in conclusion, thank you.

From this experience, I am now stronger from walking everywhere and more observant of parking signs.

Warmest regards,

A Student Who Was Recently Towed