(No) Thanks, 311
I was parking my roommate’s pick-up truck tonight and the only spots free were meter spots. But is tomorrow (MLK Day) a meter holiday? Hey, I remember all those bus-side ads for 311 — the city-wide phone information service — I can sit here in the warm truck and find out.
Hello, City of Chicago information, how may I help you?
Hi, are parking meters enforced tomorrow?
Huh. I don’t know. Let me put you on hold for a second.
(Silence… have I been disconnected?)
Sir? I’m going to transfer you.
(Ring. Ring. Ring.)
City of Chicago parking enforcement. How may I help you?
Hi, are parking meters enforced tomorrow?
Huh. I don’t know. Gerald, is tomorrow a parking holiday? [distant mumble] OK. Listen to the news tomorrow, they’ll tell you. (Click)
Ah! Listen to the news tomorrow! Because the news knows Chicago better than Chicago does.
(P.S. Tomorrow, it appears, is not a parking meter holiday.)
There are only 6 meter holidays in the year. 1. New Year’s Day, 2. Memorial Day, 3. July 4th, 4. Labor Day, 5. Thanksgiving, 6. Christmas.
sincerely,
your local frustrated 311 employee
Thanks. I had linked to a City of Chicago page with that information, but it seems it got moved from
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Revenue/Parking/Holidays.html
to
http://egov.cityofchicago.org:80/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1293308335.1124419980@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddfhheilimcefecelldffhdfgm.0&contentOID=536909931&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=HomePage
Because that’s easy to remember.