It didn’t work that often, but when it did, it was worth all the time Eric wasted trying. He’d been waiting a couple of hours now since his last try, days since his last success. But his patience was rewarded when a big family-car parked just a short distance away. He expected an older lady, mother of a few children to get out, but instead a young attractive girl climbed out the big car and slammed the door shut behind her. About eighteen, maybe nineteen he estimated her. Just got her driver’s license he thought, taking mum’s car out for a quick trip to the store. Leaving the car parked she ran into the small shop. Just getting some bread he thought, a quick run in and out, no need to buy a parking ticket. That’s where he came in.

He opened his bag and took out his equipment. The belt went around his waist, the cap on his head and the pads on his shoulder. He kept his small notebook in hand and with a pen in the other he approached the car. People didn’t know how parking-inspectors were dressed, not as real cops, he’d surely pass this young lady’s inspection. He approached the car and started jotting down letters. From the corner of his eye he’d already seen his victim rushing to the shop exit.

‘Oh come on!’ She said, ‘I wasn’t even in there for two minutes.’ She looked angry, upset that he’d write her a fine.
‘That might be so, miss, but you still have to buy a ticket.’ Eric replied. He said it with a little smile, infuriating the woman further. He knew he’d have to play the bad guy before she’d give in to his wishes.
‘Really, you can’t give me a ticket, you must’ve seen me park.’ The girl said pleadingly.
‘It’s just a fine,’ Eric replied, trying to feel out how uncomfortable she’d be for getting it. ‘I saw you park and I also saw you run in without a parking ticket. The law is the law, I can’t change that.’
The girl wrung her hands, obviously trying to find a way to get out of the situation. ‘It’s not just a fine,’ she said, thinking honesty would win him over. ‘It’s not even my car, it’s my dad’s. I just had to buy some bread and eggs. If he knows I got a ticket I have to pay for it myself, it would probably cost me my whole allowance.’
Eric teasingly smiled at her again. ‘Well then, I guess that would learn you a valuable lesson, next time you park daddy’s car you’ll remember to buy a ticket.’ There, calling her father ‘daddy’ had been his first step in showing her she was the younger one and he the one with authority, she hadn’t even noticed it.
‘Come on.’ She said pleadingly. ‘Isn’t that a bit harsh? It was only two minutes. I’ve learned my lesson already. I promise.’
Eric stopped writing, as if he had finished his ticket. ‘Oh no, that wouldn’t do any good. You’d come home and feel like you dodged the bullet, feeling you might dodge it again next time. No, you definitely need to be punished.’
He’d been careful not to call this ticket the only possible punishment, and she took the bait. ‘But why does my punishment have to be that ticket, can’t it be something else, something that doesn’t cost me my whole allowance?’