For the Record

When I bought my first car after moving to Chicagoland, I had no idea I needed a Bensenville (my place of residence at the time) city sticker. We don't have those in Iowa, so it never even occurred to me to get one. I actually drove my car for almost a year without a sticker.  Then I went out to my car one morning and found a ticket on my windshield.  I was slapped with a $50 fine for not having a City of Bensenville sticker.  I didn't even know what was meant by a "city sticker."  I quickly found out that ignorance is no excuse, and it is also costly. Not only did I get hit with the fine, I still had to buy the current year's sticker, plus pay the late fee. This was my introduction to what I call "back-door taxing," all those little ways that municipalities generate revenue without actually calling it a tax.

It's been said that living in Oak Park is like living in one giant condo assocation, given all the rules and regulations.  Our tag line may be Step Out of Line, but in reality it should be "Stop here for more than a quick second, and we'll find a way to ticket you."

So, when these two envelopes were in my mailbox today I became instantly cranky.  "What now?!" was my initial thought.  Then I simmered down.  It was just the Village mailing me the new stickers that must be displayed in the cars by July 1st.  You may wonder why in the world I consider this "blog worthy," and why my entry is titled as it is.  In the last year, the Oak Park enforcers have been known, on occasion, to ticket a vehicle for not having a sticker, even when one was displayed.  When citizens appealed the ticket with proof they had purchased the sticker they were told, "You may have purchased it on time, but there's no proof you actually had it displayed in your vehicle."

For the record, I received my sticker today, and I promptly placed it on the front of my minivan.  It's two weeks before the July 1st deadline.