A friend and I grabbed dinner and a beer after going for a swim last night. We had a delicious meal at Library Ale House in Santa Monica; the Allagash Black was SO much better than Guinness, and I don’t even like dark beer! But when we returned to her car, tucked under the windshield wiper was a parking ticket. Blurg!
We had both forgotten to put money in the meter before going to dinner. Perhaps this was karma coming back to bite me in the a– after I declared Tuesday that to avoid parking tickets all one had to do was “put one extra quarter into the meter.” Actually, avoiding fines also requires having the presence of mind to fill the meter.
My friend and I grumbled over the parking ticket but I made no offer to split it with her.
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UPDATE: Just wanted to let you all know that I gave my friend $20 to cover half of the parking ticket. It took her a second to figure out why I was handing over the cash. “My readers are keeping me honest,” I told her. She smiled and thanked me, adding that it was not necessary. But it was the right thing to do, however belated.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I think in the case of LA, its probably like Chicago where tickets are expensive, so I’d offer something.
If I were in the middle of a rural area (like one in Illinois I know of), where the tickets are $5, I wouldn’t bother.
Assuming it was a $35 Santa Monica expired meter ticket? Much better than the $50 parking ticket…but I’d still offer at least $10-15, just to be a nice friend…wouldn’t you appreciate that if the tables were turned?
What are friends for if not to remind them when a reminder is needed, and if you benefited from the ride to the restaurant, then the disadvantage (of the ticket) should be part of the benefit.
Well, I say yes at least offer because if you weren’t there she may not have been distracted and would have been more focused on putting money in the meter. That happened to me and a friend once where we were having such great coversation I completely forgot to get validation at the restaurant so when we exited the garage she offered to pay. It wasn’t a lot of money so it was really no big deal. So I would at least offer. Your friends right? What would you want if you were the driver?
Julia, will you let me know if you get this message.
Did you get other messages from me?? I am not sure this is working with my computer.
Joy Sloan
This has happened to me before, and I was the one driving. My friend’s happily split the cost of the ticket with me, and since it was only by chance I was the driver, I really appreciated it. I would have done the same for them.
Technically it’s her responsibility to feed the meter but she was nice enough to drive, it would be a nice gesture to pay half.
A friend is one who would offer to pay half, and the friend being offered the half would say just buy me a beer next time. Which is half the cost of the ticket anyway.(more or less) So you both win in the end. Since you will get to hang out with your “friend” again.
Yes, you should pay half 🙂 Or more than half, considering it cost her gas and wear/tear on her car to drive you around.
You should have offered to pay half, maybe you would have been lucky and she would have refused. Had I been the friend, I probably would have declined your offer. But it would have bugged me if you didn’t offer. Hope your friend is still a friend.
I would have offered and if my friend offered me I would take her up on it!
If the friend gave you a ride to dinner, then you should split the ticket cost. If she drove only herself and you drove your own car and/or walked, then the whole responsibility is hers. Recently a friend drove 4 of us to a baby shower—besides forking over $2 in quarters for the meter, I suggested we all chip in for gas—it was 40 miles total so we ended up giving her 5-6 dollars. Times are tough and unless you want to be known as a cheapskate, good friends share in the costs. How far did she drive you and did you contribute for gas or pay the tip at dinner “for gas”???
I’m really getting surprised at you bb! I’d think you’d have offered to pay at least half of it if not all of it! What will your friend think of you next time you go out, or will she want to out with you? I’d be irked that my friend didn’t offer to pay half. I’d probably not be as likely to go out with her again. I guess it’s a similar issue to carpooling to dinner and splitting the cost for valet or for paid parking. At least offer next time, not worth saving a couple of bucks for someone to think differently of you.
I can’t believe you didn’t offer to pay half right then, and now you are putting it up for a vote. This isn’t about whether you should get an iphone or not. This is about doing what’s morally right as a friend. You should feel ashamed of yourself.
Never mind that hindsight is 20/20… Since you were the passenger, you probably exited the car on the side by the meter. Offering to fill the meter would have avoided the ticket and ensuing angst, and would have been less expensive. Having said that… At least offering to chip in something toward the ticket would have been the right thing to do. I agree that the driver is footing basic transportation costs, so sharing the costs is really a given during this economic depression. My friends and I have a standard policy of sharing expenses with the driver.
I got a DUI ticket and my lawyers ( http://ticketvoid.com ) convinced the judge that the police don’t know how to administer the drinking test.
Where did you get your blog layout from? I’d like to get one like it for my blog.
Josh, it’s a WordPress blog, style is called Andrew.
Good for you, although it would have meant much more had you offered when it happened. Hope some good karma comes you way.
Thanks Frank. Not sure if I will get any good karma for paying late, but I did have a dream last night that I got a parking ticket. The meter maid was writing it out and nothing I did could persuade her to NOT give me a ticket!
I’m glad to hear that you did the right thing.
Sometime is takes a while for us to figure it out but in the end good won out.
This would probally never come up for me because I live in such a small town but yes I think you should offer to pay half.
I think so, I recently got a parking ticket in LA that costs $58.00. It was a street cleaning ticket in front of my apartment. And to make matters worse it was the day after I got laid off and had registered the car in California – yes both on the same date but planned for only registration not being laid off (a gift from my out of state significant other). I think he should have paid for half since I was was definately out of it and I had paid everything registration and smog to take it off his hands. He didn’t and I still feel he should have contributed which you should when someone else offers to drive.
The exact same situation happened to me when I visited Dar Maghreb in Hollywood. My friend drove us to dinner and when we came out of the restaurant, she had a $50 parking ticket on her windshield. I felt so bad for her that I gave her $25 immediately. She also said I didn’t have to do that. But it wouldn’t have felt right if I walked away from the situation without offering to pay a part of the ticket. She was nice enough to give me a ride to the restaurant. So I give you applause for doing the right thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-VdmHXYbRY
Bargain Babe: I don’t see a comment from “Frank,” whom you replied to. ???
seostarman1: And were you DUI? If so, shame on both the judge and your lawyers, all of whom should lose their jobs–but won’t. As for you, the word “shame” isn’t strong enough for someone who could have maimed or killed others. No sympathy for what could have happened to you. I’m not even sure what your point was for sharing that information.
you did the right thing….
I’d stopped reading your e-mai, after that “incident”.
I am back with u now…