As I mentioned previously on my Facebook page (keyword: Freeway Fairington's Fan Page), an employee of mine recently inspired some old-school stories in the form of new blogs by our discussion on colleges. She is 17 and in the process of applying to and being accepted at many colleges throughout the state.
While my recent blog about the Coca-Cola and marriage proposal is one of my favorite stories from my college days, this one is a close second...
If I recall correctly, it was approximately 10:45am on a Wednesday. I was at the corner of Edgewood and Courtland Streets in downtown Atlanta, waiting for the light to change to walk to my car. I was through with classes for the day and in desperate need of a nap. A man approached me (not unusual at all in this part of town) and asked me for money. I shook my head and said, "Sorry, man. I can barely even pay for parking down here. Wish I could help you out."
"I got probation today, yo," he replied. "If I don't pay up, I goin' to jail."
I shrugged. "Dude, I'm sorry, for real. Even if I did have money, it wouldn't be anywhere near enough to cover your probation fines. Good luck!"
He took off up Edgewood toward the next block and the Sweet Auburn district. I crossed, passed behind Georgia Bookstore and got in my car.
No sooner had I cranked my car and put it in reverse than I heard "BAM! BAM! BAM!" and looked out my driver's side window to see dude pounding his fist against the glass. Um, oops...guess, I should have tried harder to conjure up that elusive money tree. Thank God for the parking attendant at that lot. In a split second, he tackled my probation frenemy and started screaming at him to leave his patrons alone. "Go on, Freeway," the attendant hollered through the window, "I got this."
See, I was obviously a lucky chick that day. The parking lot where I always parked (behind Georgia Bookstore), was actually a self-pay lot. This means, you fold up your dollars and feed them into the slot that corresponds with your parking space number. The only reason there was an attendant on duty in/near the lot was because the Martin Luther King Research Library bordered the lot and had employee parking on one row of the side corner of this lot. Having parked in the lot for nearly every day for two semesters, I had gotten to know the attendant on a first-name basis and made it a point to say hello to him every time I saw him. Fortunately, this quite possibly saved my life.
I don't know what he's up to these days. I do, however, know it's wise to keep a cigarette or a few pennies on hand while walking the streets of Atlanta. Both are known to chill out those "probationers"...I mean, it's either pay their fine or get assaulted. Or just toss them a cig and let them get a buzz off the nicotine before they're hauled off to jail.
Fulton County's a bitch to bail anyone out of, btw. But, my friends, that one's for another day.
"I got five on it...",
Freeway Fairington
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