Curse of the Bug

9/8/06

Steve’s car is just about famous in the city of Oakland. It’s a Volkswagen beetle in this shade of electric blue that just about hums down the street when you see it. You can’t miss it.

So there is something else special about this car—it has a curse. I know, many of you are thinking, “Yeah, I’ve borrowed Steve’s car before and I didn’t have problems.” Well, that is because you are not a Jesuit Volunteer. Allow me to elaborate (I know my two predecessors Joe and Tom would back me up on this).

Early on during my career here at St. Vincent’s, Steve (very generously) made it clear to me that I could borrow his car any time that he was not using it. Now, I rarely borrow other people’s cars because I would feel horrible if I got a ticket or if something happened. Still, there are times when I need to use it at work to drive a client or open and close an NA or AA meeting when Steve can’t.

Along with his invitation, Steve gave me a warning about former JVs and parking tickets. Apparently the combination of a Jesuit Volunteer and this electric blue paint creates some type of force that attracts parking tickets like a magnet. It happened to Tom two years ago, and it happened to Joe last year.

Well, I’ve never gotten a parking ticket in my life and I figured I could reverse the curse. Hell, I lived in Boston during the 2004 World Series. So I closed up the center after an NA meeting and I drove home (I kept the car for the night so I didn’t have to walk through Oakland after dark). I got to my block and then I drove around the entire downtown area by my apartment. I spent about 20 minutes looking for a good parking space… and I thought I had found one.

Understanding that the odds were against me, I ran outside to check the car at midnight. There were other cars parked on the road and everything looked fine. Unaware of what time I needed to start feeding the meters, I got up a little early to put some quarters in. And there it was…that bright green envelope underneath the windshield wiper. I knew that I had already lost.

So I paid the ticket online so that Steve wouldn’t have to, and I did some research on future parking solutions. Optimistically speaking, I would like to look at it as a rite of passage.