Now this is something that doesn't happen every day, thankfully. Easter Sunday my wife and I returned to New Jersey on the second last train from Manhattan, having just seen our son and future daughter-in-law backing up Tiffany at BB King's on Times Square. It had been a great day in an amazing city. It was 1 am and the parking garage was seemingly deserted. We were on the third floor of a concrete maze.
I inserted my ticket into the machine to pay and it was rejected. I tried it again. Rejected. I tried two different machines with the same result. Nothing. My mind was kicking into gear. How are we going to get out if we don't have a paid ticket to raise the barricade? I had visions of blasting through the barricade with a knife brandishing New Jersey gang hot on our tail.
There is a button on the machines to call the parking attendant. Tried that. No answer. In fact, I pressed the button on all three machines and I could hear them all ringing. Now my mind was really starting to react. This IS New Jersey, after all. Feeling vulnerable? Yeah, just a bit.
There was a police call box on the wall, which was comforting, but we decided to go down to the first floor to see if we could find someone. I went to the attendant's booth where there was a sign that read, "Back in Ten Minutes". Could this get any worse? I went to another machine and tried the ticket, only to be rejected again. I hammered on the door to see if he was sleeping in the back. Who knew how long the "ten minute" sign had been there? No reaction. I pressed the call button just so I could have the satisfaction of hearing yet another phone dialing. At least it created a sound. The parking lot had been - dare I say it - tomb-like to that point.
Finally, about twenty minutes later I saw someone strolling down the ramp from the second floor. I tensed until I could see who it was. It was the attendant who had been making his rounds. I explained the problem and he apologized and tried the ticket. Nothing. He tried a new ticket. He said, "it won't be more than $5". "Uh, no it won't", I said. The maximum at night was $2 and with the mood I was in, he was seriously in danger of being stuffed into the nearest garbage can. Then I realized I probably wouldn't be able to do that since the garbage can was likely already full of tourists who had been trapped in the garage on previous nights. I also realized that if I did that, we still wouldn't be able to get out!
"Okay", he said with a shrug. "The system is down". Really!!?? Who knew? After trying a series of new tickets, he finally got one to work and the barricade miraculously rose. There were a few other cars waiting in the parking lot for their unsuspecting passengers who would be equally aggravated by the experience they had awaiting them. I think the parking lot attendant's night was about to become his worst nightmare when the last train arrived.
"Have a good night" I said, cackling rather maniacally as we made our great escape into the New Jersey night.
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