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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Dec 28, 2013 19:30:19 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- Another day, another dollar.
Lynette scanned the parking lot of a large office building. Her territory was the whole neighborhood today, so she got to look at all of the meters and all of the neighborhood parking jobs. Already she’d given out a couple tickets for neglected meters, and one for some idiot who had parked too far from the curb while parallel parking.
Yup, it was very satisfying, being a parking enforcer. Well, that was only if there was some confrontation to keep it interesting. So far, though, no incidents.
Ah, there was a keeper.
She stopped and looked across the parking lot and saw a good-ol’ gem—a motorcycle parked on the sidewalk by the front of the building. That one was always fun because not a lot of people knew they couldn’t do that. They figured “Well it’s small like a bike and I’ll be out lickity-split so it shouldn’t matter where I park it!” People parked their bikes in the dumbest places because they thought they were special.
After making sure it was safe to cross, Lyn moved across the parking lot and pulled out her handy dandy ticket pad and ticket-writing pen. This was going to be a doozy. She took her time with this once, making sure to fill the ticket out with the neatest handwriting she could manage. She was stalling—maybe the owner would come out and argue with her.
Mmm-hmm that was the best part of this job.
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Rene• 247 • May 20th, 2012 @ 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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Post by KUN SHUI WEI on Dec 29, 2013 18:20:12 GMT -8
tagged: Lynette Keeler time: May 20, 1:15PM speech: kun shui. notes: - - - Something about the recent bundle of stocks he’d purchased. Something about the wrong papers being signed in the wrong places. Kun Shui hadn’t even known much about what, exactly, was wrong when he had to leave that morning with a cup of coffee in one hand, a briefcase in the other and the keys to his motorcycle in a pocket. No time for calling the chauffer, though he lived only a few floors down; there was no point in bothering the old man at such an early hour, even if it was his job. If nothing else, Kun Shui was a courteous employer.
Despite having a small fleet of vehicles at his disposal, Kun Shui still liked to drive himself around occasionally. One could never forget how to drive or ride a motorcycle, but he still liked to feel the slow purr of the engine as he started it up anyways. Once in a while. It was a treat, or something. He just liked to tell himself that anyways.
He liked to tell himself a lot of things and it would no doubt devolve into him talking to himself in his old age, like his father had said. He told himself that the papers just needed some clarification and he told himself the man he spoke to about the stocks, the one standing right in front of him, was an idiot. He told himself he’d get home before lunch.
And of course, that didn’t happen. He was kept a little later than he would have liked; the man insisting on small talk when he should have been watching the time. He had to detach him like a leech and when he finally got back downstairs, there was a woman standing next to his motorcycle; a meter maid. Well, shit.
”Ah, excuse me, ma’am?” He put on his politest voice, standing there in one of his neater suits with that small smile on his face that infuriated him if it came from anyone else. Most would be willing to forgive a neatly dressed gentleman who looked like they were in a hurry. ”Is there anything the matter?”
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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Dec 31, 2013 12:55:23 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- Lynette was about to give up all hope of this guy coming out and just move on with her life, but no. He showed up. She looked up when he politely addressed her and though her expression remained neutral, she was jumping for joy inside. It had been hours since the last person had verbally assaulted her. And they all started out this way—trying to be polite and resolve it in the nicest way possible.
She dropped her ticket pad and lifted up her pen, indicating toward the man’s motorcycle. “You parked on the sidewalk. That is illegal, sir,” she explained. She turned and pointed toward the parking lot. “There are plenty of spaced you could have parked in and there would not have been a problem. Unfortunately, I must give you a ticket.”
How long would it take him to start yelling? Or maybe he’d beg for her to revoke the ticket and plea ignorance. If he had been a woman, he might have broke down into tears in order to sway her. But Lynette didn’t make her quota by falling for every tear-jerking story or plea for forgiveness.
Oh yes. She was cold-hearted.
But that was why she was a top parking enforcer. Because she made her quotas. A lot of people would have quit way before Lynette’s running employment, but she didn’t care. She enjoyed meeting those angry people. It made her feel alive inside. Lynette could only hope that maybe he would entertain her for more than a few minutes. However, there was always that slim chance that he would be totally cool with it, admit his fault, and move on.
Those were always disappointing.
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Rene• 279 • May 20th, 2012 @ 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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Post by KUN SHUI WEI on Jan 1, 2014 21:10:53 GMT -8
tagged: Lynette Keeler time: May 20, 1:15PM speech: kun shui. notes: - - - It was illegal to park on the sidewalk? He raised a brow at her for a second, mentally rifling through the books he’d read before he got his license. Rules cascaded from those pages and he didn’t quite remember the lot of them, especially not after so long. Of course, as he just stood there and tried to remember, nothing familiar came up. Damn it, he had to go look again once he got home.
”Are you sure, ma’am?” She had to know what she was talking about, but meeting quotas made people pull random rules out of their asses all the time. He’d heard quite a few stories of parking enforcers putting the wrong tickets on the wrong cars, pulling old people over for talking on phones when they didn’t even have phones and giving bikers tickets when they cycled outside of their lanes when it was legal.
Kun Shui didn’t look much too upset over the whole thing, but it was certainly taking up a decent chunk of his time that he would be unable to get back. Not to mention actually having to go and pay this ticket or contest it; now that would take up a decent chunk that he could have and would have rather spent doing something else.
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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Jan 2, 2014 12:47:14 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- Aha, there it was. The disbelief. Like she didn’t know the rules she was trying to enforce. That was also a pretty common reaction. People always thought that they knew the rules better than she did, or that maybe she was making it up.
Lynette didn’t make things up.
She tapped her ticket book against her open palm and shifted her weight slightly. Lynette managed to keep her face neutral, though she was enjoying this little one-on-one on the inside. People didn’t seem to appreciate the smug look on her face as she told them off or got told off—that usually just made people even angrier—so she was used to looking professional and keeping her cool.
“Yes, I’m quite sure. It’s a common mistake and a lot of people skim over it when they’re getting their motorcycle license,” she explained. She lifted the book up and scribbled a couple more things in and then tore it off. The carbon copy remained on the slip, for those who wanted to just throw theirs away.
And a lot of people just threw theirs away.
Well, handing the ticket over was her only job. She didn’t have to deal with those that didn’t pay, so she didn’t worry about it. She was doing her job, someone else would do theirs.
“Instructions for payment and the fee are on the back, as well as a court date if you want to contest it,” she explained, extending the ticket toward him. Though Lynette could be wrong, she had the distinct feeling that this guy, though he looked perfectly polite and cordial, might just be used to getting his way and would try to smooth talk his way out of this. She was hoping for it, anyway.
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Rene• 293 • May 20th, 2012 @ 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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Post by KUN SHUI WEI on Jan 3, 2014 18:42:20 GMT -8
tagged: Lynette Keeler time: May 20, 1:15PM speech: kun shui. notes: - - - Kun Shui didn’t like to talk excessively. His father had always told him to know how to talk, but that was different than talking too much. Filling a space with words did you no good; filling the space with the right words did, and he’d been conditioned into that his entire life.
When she explained to him that the mistake was common and handed him a ticket, he didn’t say anything. He glanced down at the small sheet of paper and his eyes wandered to the fine; nothing extraordinary and nothing he couldn’t pay for, but irritating no less. He didn’t want to take the time out of his day to contest it because that would mean he had to move other things aside to make it to a court date. As for paying it, the fine was nothing but a half drop in a bucket, but that would be quite a bit straightforward, now wouldn’t it?
Jun Shi might have had some fun in creating a bit of a fuss, but Kun Shui was a little more straightforward than that.
”Ma’am, I’m a busy sort of man, and I don’t think I’d have enough time to contest it.” A smooth talker, at least a bit. He kept that smile on, pleasant and polite. Not too pushy; just right to get people relaxed and comfortable. ”Is there some alternative to settling this?”
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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Jan 6, 2014 12:41:54 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- This time, Lyn couldn’t help the slight twitch in the corner of her lips. It threatened to form a smirk, but she hid it—maybe too late, maybe not—by lowering her head slightly, as if exasperated by this person’s stick-to-itiveness. But, really, she had been hoping for it. A little bit conflict in her life was good. It kept her going and stopped her from stabbing people just for the hell of it.
He didn’t want to contest it so he was seeing if there was an easier path to take. She’d already told him about it, but it seemed like he wasn’t even counting that as an option. Lynette looked him over for a couple seconds—decently dressed, Asian, at a big office building—she assumed that he probably could pay it easily. Like it would be chump change.
But, of course, one weren’t well off by spending money willy-nilly like that. He probably wanted to save.
Well, bad luck for him.
Lynette looked him dead in the eye and kept the ticket held up, expecting him to take it any second now. She kept her face neutral and gave him his answer. “You could pay the fine.” She said it in a matter-of-fact tone, somehow managing not to sound too haughty at the same time. Then, however, she had another thought. He seemed like he was in a hurry. Maybe she could draw this out and make him waste more time.
“Or, I could pull out my book and look for the rule. Parking enforcers do tend to make mistakes. . . . I could show you I’m not making it up?” she asked, sickly sweet. Who knew how long that would take. She didn’t have the book memorized, but hey—if he really wanted her to she would look. She didn’t have anything better to do.
She had made her quota a couple days ago.
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Kun Shui • 319 • May 20th, 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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Post by KUN SHUI WEI on Jan 8, 2014 20:17:48 GMT -8
tagged: Lynette Keeler time: May 20, 1:15PM speech: kun shui. notes: - - - Kun Shui rarely came across a parking enforcer face to face, but he didn’t need to. People, despite being such a wide range of personalities, physical appearances, strengths and weaknesses, all had some common interest. The vast majority of them, for example, were quite interested in money. Of course, paying the fine was putting money in government hands and most government workers thought it would be better in their own pockets. For Kun Shui, paying the woman right now would be faster than trying to go through an online process. Of course, the government made it super easy to give them your money, but paying out was a whole different story.
He knew that tone, though. That sickly-sweet tone that always, no matter what he was doing or even if it was directed at him, got him just a tiny bit riled. ”That won’t be necessary. I’m sure you know the rules better than I do.” It was her job, was it not? His tone remained polite, slightly informal but not so much that he would be taken for incompetent.
”What about if I pay you right here, hm?” Beating around the bush? No, that was only for triad affairs, where careful wording meant success or watching your back for the rest of your life. For someone like a parking enforcer? Well, he couldn’t say it was much trouble.
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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Jan 13, 2014 11:12:31 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- He wasn’t going to fight her on the rules, then. Well, that was for the best. She hadn’t particularly wanted to go rummaging through her tiny little book, though she would have if that meant wasting more of this guy’s time. It was the little things in life that kept her happy, and irritating people was one of those little things.
Then came the offers.
A bribe.
Those usually happened, but that didn’t really make any logical sense to Lynette. Why would you give the money to her if you could just use the same amount of money—maybe less, she would need a heftier bribe than the pittance parking tickets cost. This particular one was just a little under fifty dollars—it would have been more if he’d let a meter run out—so she would probably ask for double. Just to tick him off.
“Hmm?” she hummed, cocking her head slightly. She was only a tiny bit interested—she had no real grasp on money except she needed it to stay in her apartment and to eat occasionally. But, she liked conflict. “Well, let me see. . . the ticket will cost you fifty. . . and then the cost of explaining a voided ticket to my manager will be another thirty. . . the cost of sitting here arguing with me will be another ten. . . .”
Lynette looked up from her little ticket pad and gave him a smile. One of those smiles. “If you want this to go away it’ll be ninety dollars in my pocket,” she told him. That seemed fair to her. She actually didn’t really mind explaining things to her boss—she would have a lie fabricated by the time she clocked out for the day and it would certainly be a winner. However, most people would hate coming up against their managers, so she had to factor that in somewhere.
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Kun Shui • 320 • May 20th, 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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Post by KUN SHUI WEI on Jan 20, 2014 18:22:41 GMT -8
tagged: Lynette Keeler time: May 20, 1:15PM speech: kun shui. notes: - - - Well, this young lady was definitely proving herself to be one of those irritating ones. She probably wanted double of what the ticket actually was, and sure enough, as she added everything up, it came out to about that much. What was worth more? Ninety dollars or a half hour navigating the most jumbled government website ever to pay for a parking ticket?
Kun Shui resisted the urge to rub his temples and sigh in exasperation. He had better things to do than stand there and work this out with a parking enforcer, or whatever her job title might have been. Instead, without another word, he reached for his wallet in his back pocket. He probably made four times as much as she was asking for in his stocks in the past few minutes he’d been speaking to her.
”Here.” He didn’t have exact damn change on him, now did he? Kun Shui just pulled out a crisp hundred dollar bill and held it out to her. Realistically, he didn’t care if he was caught on camera or much else. It’d be up to the woman’s integrity if she took the bribe or not, and politicians were known for doing worse.
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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Jan 21, 2014 18:53:27 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- She had to hand it to him: he was really serious about not wanting to spend the time to pay the ticket. Lynette didn’t think it was that hard—he could have paid over the website or he could have just mailed in a check. Apparently, though, those options were also just out of the question for him.
And, apparently, she had been right. He made plenty of money.
He handed her a crisp hundo and she took it from him. Screw cameras—unless someone came through here after committing a crime within the next ten minutes, the footage would never ever be looked at. And if she got fired, so what? She would just find a new job and hope it was as satisfying as this one was. It was unlikely, but hey she really didn’t care.
Without a word, she just took the bill from his grasp and gave him a short nod before pulling her wallet out. She stuck it in there and—of all things—pulled out a five and five ones she’d been holding on for lunch and extended the bills out to him. She had a couple other one dollar bills floating around, as well.
Yes, she was giving him change. She had given him an exact amount, and the least she could do was hold to that. It was only an extra ten dollars, and Lynette was a lot of things, but money-hungry wasn’t one of them.
“You must really hate giving money to the government,” she said as she waited for him to take his change. “Or would you rather it not go on your insurance?”
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Kun Shui • 274 • May 20th, 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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Post by KUN SHUI WEI on Jan 29, 2014 7:27:29 GMT -8
tagged: Lynette Keeler time: May 20, 1:15PM speech: kun shui. notes: - - - He was just about to close his wallet, give the young woman a friendly nod and tell her to have a nice day before being on his way. He didn’t need to spend much more time here, but then she handed him two five dollar bills back and he couldn’t help but think that at least she was slightly polite. After all, if his previous knowledge of law enforcers went right, which it tended to in his line of business, they would’ve taken the hundred and be done with it.
He took the two bills, putting it back in his wallet. ”You can say that.” Though he wasn’t specifying which one it was. Of course his insurance was spotless and his run-ins with the government had been minimal, but he wanted to keep off any sort of documentation when it put him in a negative light. He already had enough negativity when it came to the triad and running such a large organization; he didn’t need much more.
”Well, if that would be all, I’ll be on my way.”
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Post by LYNETTE KEELER on Feb 7, 2014 11:56:36 GMT -8
| I’m coming undone Keep holding on When my brain's ticking like a bomb Guess the black thoughts Have come again to get me Sweet bitter words Unlike nothing I have heard Sing along, mockingbird You don't affect me That's right Deliver it to my heart Please strike Be deliberate Choke, choke again I find my demons were my friends Getting me in the end They're out to get me Since I was young I tasted sorrow on my tongue And this sweet sugar gun Does not protect me That's right Trigger between my eyes Please strike make it ------- Most people would have taken the hundred dollar bill and just ran off. However, Lyn didn’t like being most people. And it was almost second nature from all of her other transactions with people—you give them money, they give you change. It was a system that worked, and though Lyn was several other things, money-hungry wasn’t one of them.
She was a little disappointed in his reaction, but at least he looked a tad bit surprised. Maybe even a little satisfied. Well darn. Maybe she should have taken the whole bill and left it at that. If she’d done that, maybe he would have gotten angrier.
Eh. You can’t win them all.
He was being pretty cryptic. Lynette was starting to get bored with him not rising to the occasion, but at least it hadn’t been a totally boring interaction. She’d gotten to mess with him a little bit in her own little way, probably made him five minutes late for something, and now he was out almost a hundred dollars. No, it wasn’t a totally worthless venture at all—at least a little bit worth taking all of that time to draw out the ticket writing procedure to make sure he could come see her.
“No. That should be all,” she responded, making a point to tear the ticket in half and shove it in her pocket. She would just tell her boss that she messed up and got some of the rules mixed up. That was generally an acceptable reason. However, it was pretty much guaranteed that her boss would at least guess she had been paid off.
It happened quite a bit.
“Be careful where you park next time. Just because you’re on a motorcycle doesn’t mean you get to park wherever you want,” she added, waving her pen at him in a lecturing manner. She turned slightly and clipped her pen to her little chest pocket and added, “Next time we may not be able to be bribed and you’ll have to deal with the ticket.”
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Kun Shui • 341 • May 20th, 1:15pm • THANKS ♥ |
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