City of Denver full of love this Valentine's

This holiday weekend promised to bring about something I have not had in a long time... a date. I planned out every small detail and put together the itinerary, made reservations, etc. But it was not to be. Alas, my local government, in the interest of serving me and the People, has taken that date away.

I'd been diligently socking away my money in expectation of the Valentine's holiday. I'd also been scrambling to earn some extra spending money for this as well. In this regard- the quick scramble for cash- it appears me and The City of Denver are one in the same. We just have different ideas of how to spend that cash.

The City of Denver, as well as the State of Colorado, and most cities, are hurting for cash. To remedy this, Denver is stepping up its ticketing efforts in order to fill in the budget gaps. This becomes painfully clear when you receive 3 tickets in 4 days, all within the same two blocks in a downtown Denver neighborhood.

It began Monday morning with a parking ticket for remaining in a loading zone for 5 minutes too long ($25). Then, on Tuesday morning, came the missing front license plate ($75). Thursday morning: a repeat of the missing front license plate ticket ($75).

You see, I was recently granted temporary stewardship of my sister's car while she is out of the country. She handed me the keys to a vehicle with a missing front plate. Since Thursday is my only day off from the 2-3 jobs I work, I had to wait till Thursday to go to the DMV to get new plates. Thereafter, I took the tickets down to Denver Parking Magistrate with my new plates and asked if they could work a deal. The City could not, citing that the tickets were indeed 'valid.' So, it looks like I'll be spending all my savings for Valentine's on the parking tickets instead. Too bad the city can't give me a smooch good night.

1 loading zone ticket: $25
2 front license plate: $150

TOTAL: $175

ADDITIONAL COSTS IMPOSED: A Valentine's spent alone :-(

But the lost date opportunity is not the only thing that these parking tickets took away. They also took away business, and in turn, tax revenues. Here was the planned breakdown of my Valentine's date expenses:

$20 haircut, at a local Denver barber shop (not a chain store)
$25 for a dozen roses
$30 for food at a local Denver restaurant (again, not a chain)
$20 for drinks
$30 for the Denver Aquarium exhibit
$7 for parking at the Aquarium
$10 for chocolates
$5 for a card and chocolates for my mother

Total: $147

So a few local businesses will be without my anticipated business this weekend. Now, the lack of my business may not break the companies, but in a slowed economy, they need all the customers they can get. In addition to providing money to businesses who in turn use it for employment, my money spent generates sales tax for the city and helps businesses pay their payroll, property, and other business taxes to the state. At least my money would help to do that, had I the money to spend.

But since my parking tickets amount to $175, not only am I out of money for a date, but it looks like I'll also have to cut out of my lunch money fund for next week just to pay these off.

Sometimes Cupid's arrow really does draw blood.