Getting a parking ticket is something you’d expect for a driver parked illegally on the street, not for a North Carolina high school student in their school’s parking lot. And while Reddit user Fungerman2 wasn’t technically given a ticket, they were allegedly charged $50 and even forced to leave during an exam just to move the car. For reference, their vehicle wasn’t blocking a fire lane or creating a safety hazard; it was just in a “senior’s parking spot.”
Fungerman2 explained that seniors at their high school can “buy spots for the year” but need to paint them so other drivers know the spots are reserved. However, as OP’s posted image shows, there’s no paint in the spot where they were forced to move their car from. If the fine wasn’t bad enough, they claim they were “manually removed from class during an important test,” a wild accusation if true.
Redditors Doubted the School Was In the Right Over Handling This Alleged Parking Violation
Thousands of Redditors urged OP to push back on the $50 charge. “Don’t pay it and raise a stink. They think because you’re younger that they can walk all over you,” recommended a commenter. “How does a parking spot that’s ‘owned’ by some senior kid based on an ambiguous rule be more important than your education?” questioned another, referring to the exam removal. “The dystopian society we live in where the SCHOOL cares more about parking enforcement than academic success,” agreed a third.
Other Redditors chimed in, saying that the whole concept of seniors’ reserved paid parking was a common thing now in schools. However, in Fungerman2’s case, it’s unclear whether the paint determines whether the spot is reserved or whether OP parked in a row just for special parking. Either way, many people suggested the high schooler get the rules in documentation before trying to challenge the $50 fine.
There’s also the question of whether it’s right to drag a student out of a test over some reserved parking for seniors. There was no alleged emergency, so why would school staff force a student to stop their progress just to move their car instead of doing it afterward?
These unanswered questions aside, Fungerman2 appears to be determined to fight the school over this: “OBVIOUSLY I’m gonna contest the fine because this is gen-u-ine horse[expletive] and there is literally no paint on the spot.”
