Posted on 06/25/2006 8:49:34 AM PDT by LibWhacker
A council has apologised to a woman who was fined £60 after workmen painted a disabled bay around her car.
When Shirley Hatcher, 67, parked her car in North Road, Southampton, Hampshire, there were no parking restrictions in place.
Mrs Hatcher, of Priory Road, said: "I had just gone to the hairdressers and when I returned there was this disabled bay and the £60 fine."
A spokeswoman for Southampton City Council has apologised for the error.
Mrs Hatcher said: "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.
"My car was covered in polka dots from the paint they had used.
"I was fuming, absolutely fuming, all I could think was what sort of idiot did this.
"I saw the funny side of it the next day - you couldn't make it up."
A spokeswoman for Southampton City Council said the authority would cover the costs of repairs to her car.
She added: "Occasionally things go wrong no matter how hard we try to get things right.
"We were in error, as was our painting contractor, and we're very sorry.
"We are doing everything we can to put it right, and to examine our processes to prevent anything like this happening again."
Maybe it was an excellent practical joke and not government contractor stupidity? What a great joke that would be.
It reminds me of the time I was helping start up a new a Chinese fertilizer factory many years ago. The concrete crew had to pour a new factory floor and a large valve was sitting smack dab in the middle of where the new floor was to be poured. Rather than move the valve, they carefully placed a form around the valve and proceeded with the pour. The next day, there was this beautiful new floor with a huge hole in the middle and the valve still sitting on the dirt with the forms removed. "It isn't my job" rules everywhere.
Sounds like the typical bureaucratic SNAFU one would expect behind an iron curtain.
I've been handicapped since 1995 but only got my tag a year ago. My wife was after me for years to get one but I resisted (out of pride). My doctor was in agreement, however she's known me for years. Those doctors who do it illegitimately are quacks and deserve to have their licenses revoked.
Actually, they are speaking English.
We speak American English.
They spoke it first.
I live in Huntsville, Alabama. Is this a true story? (With our local government it wouldn't surprise me if it were.)
Seems like the UK has no shortage of idiots working for the Government......much like the USA.
The workers were fired after a review of the work order showed clearly that a fake fire hydrant was specified, not the handicapped bay. /h
I saw this happen once (but with a red No Parking curb, not handicapped markings) in Irvine, CA.
Look out! Once the cops in Georgia's most famous fee grabbing town, Ludowici, find this, there's no telling what's next. I'm sure they're already working on a portable fire hydrant.
There is a photo shown here, (I cannot post it), at this link with more to this story:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006290144,00.html
It was starting day at the Tuna, Texas power company for two fledgling engineers. Bruce was from UT Austin--a Teasip. Gomer was from A&M--an Aggie.
The foreman gave the young'ns their first field assignments. "We got some new lines to put in, and we'll start today with the power poles. We got one stretch over on Lamar Road, and the other's out on Magnolia Chase. We got two crews waitin', and they got the maps and the drawings."
"Bruce, you take Lamar, and Gomer, you take Magnolia. Report back here by 5:30 so I can see how ya did."
The boys went on their way, and both returned at the appointed time to report on how they'd done.
"OK, Bruce, how'd ya do?"
"Well, we got about three quarters of a mile done, from 3rd Street to 9th. They're all ready for stringing."
"How 'bout you, Gomer?"
"Boss, we got most of the way from 16th to 17th Avenue."
"Gomer! How come Bruce got 7 blocks o' poles done and you didn't even get one?"
"Boss, did you see how much of the poles he left out of the ground?!"
You could have stopped right there and it would still have been funny.
yes, www.freebritannia.com - and they put stupid American stories on there too sometimes ;-)
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