The following was written and submitted by Cape Charles visitor Scott O’Carroll.
I can’t tell you how deflated we were to return to our car after a pleasant first-time visit to Cape Charles on July 4 – to find a $50 ticket for parking face-in.
Today is Monday and we are home in Columbia, SC and I have cooled off and decided to express my feelings through the poem below. The ticket did spoil the visit though to the lovely Cape Charles.
The Fifty-Dollar Sin
‘Twas the Fourth of July in Cape Charles,
When my wife and I first ventured in.
Little did either of us foresee
We’d commit a most grievous sin.
No murder or mayhem, no theft or deceit,
No reckless or dangerous spin.
No speeding, no shouting, no public dispute—
Our crime was to park… facing in.
The signs were few, the warnings obscure,
The streets were alive with the fair.
Nowhere we’d traveled in all of our days
Had we found such a rule waiting there.
The ordinance claims it promotes public safety,
Preventing mishaps, we are told.
Yet cameras and sensors on modern-day cars
Make that old reasoning vacant and cold.
And why is it lawful to back into spaces,
Leaving your bumper out front?
If safety’s the standard the town wishes kept,
Shouldn’t both methods confront?
What evidence gave this ordinance life?
What danger was truly displayed?
How many were injured by front-facing cars,
Or is revenue simply being made?
Our visit to Cape Charles was otherwise grand;
Its beaches and shops a delight.
At AJ’s we dined, we wandered the town,
And the memories started out bright.
Then Officer Brown left a fifty-dollar note—
A souvenir none would earn.
A charming town dimmed by a needless decree,
One that makes visitors hesitate to return.
About the Author
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