When I moved back into my parents house in 2023, my car registration expired. I paid the fees, but the sticker was lost in the mail as addresses were changed. I was initially paranoid that I would be pulled over and given a ticket, but it was soon discovered the police in the Antelope Valley weren’t going to do anything about expired tags.
It was something I should have gone to the DMV or AAA to resolve, but if the cops didn’t care my sticker was the wrong color, I didn’t care.
The police in Pasadena do care if your sticker is the wrong color. They especially care if your expired car parks in a metered lot without paying, and this injustice is so grievous that instead of sending you a fine in the mail or leaving a ticket under your windshield wiper, they take your property and leave you with nothing.
Vlad had been towed, and I was stuck in the rain trying to figure out where they took him. I called the number posted on a sign near the lot, and was told I would need to pay my registration fees in order to claim my car. I declared I had already paid the fees and they said I would need to pay this year’s fees as well, since they were due that month. They told me a AAA office was nearby and that it would be closing soon.
I checked my maps and took off towards AAA to rectify the situation. It was just after 4:30, and the office closed at 5. It was ten minutes away, so I walked at a brisk pace to get there as soon as I could. There was no line at the counter, and the current year’s $165 registration fee wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.
I pulled out my debit card and prepared to pay. The clerk behind the counter informed me that they only took credit, checks or cash. I had no credit cards or checks on me, and only $60 in cash. The clerk provided some directions to a nearby credit union where I could withdraw some money. I didn’t have a lot of time to run down to the credit union, but luckily the rain had eased into a light sprinkling.
With the cash in hand, I sprinted back to the AAA office a few minutes before it closed, and finished the transaction. I walked out of the office with up-to-date registration right as 5 o’clock hit.
The next thing I needed to do was find out where Vlad was being held.
The rain began to grow in intensity as I redialed the number from the parking lot and discovered that their offices closed at 5 o’clock too.
The only assistance I was provided was an answering machine to snitch on cars that needed to be towed. No additional details were provided for those victims whose cars had been towed. Those people had to find their property on their own and foot the bill for the ridiculous overnight fees in the meantime.
Frustrated, I ducked into a restaurant and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, giving myself a break from the rain. I began calling around to the various tow companies to try and find those responsible for seizing Vlad. I dried off a little while making my calls, but none of the tow yards I called had claimed my car that evening.
In my search on Google Maps, I noticed the Pasadena Police Station was pretty close, and determined that if anyone would know where my car was, it would be the police. At the very least, someone would be at the station no matter what time it was, and I could dry off in the lobby. I needed to get moving if I wanted to reclaim my car before the tow yards closed and I wasn’t about to spend all night trying to get Vlad back, so I set out into the rain once again.
I made my way through the downpour to the station, becoming absolutely drenched within minutes of leaving the restaurant. My jacket was soaked through, and I began to worry about the legibility of the soaking paperwork in my pocket. I stepped in a puddle crossing the street to the station, and my shoes became waterlogged.
The lobby to the station was closed, but there was an overhang and bench next to the front doors, along with an intercom on the wall. I pressed the button and talked to the people inside. I learned where Vlad was taken, and sat down on the bench to look up the tow yard on my phone. Unsurprisingly, it was also closed.
I would be on my own for the night. I made myself as comfortable as I could on the bench in front of the police station and waited for the rain to stop.
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