‘I demanded my co-worker pay my parking ticket but she thinks it’s not fair’

A woman went out for dinner at a restaurant with her colleague and struggled to find somewhere to park until her co-worker gave her a piece of advice – but when they returned from dinner, she’d been fined

A young woman is adamant it’s her co-worker’s fault she landed a parking ticket and is insisting she pays the fine for her in full. Finding somewhere to park can be a bit of a minefield, especially as many areas come with the risk of a ticket and fine. These fines vary in price, depending on the location and the severity of the perceived offence.

They typically range from £50 to £130 but are usually halved if paid within certain timeframes – usually 14 days. One woman hoped to avoid a parking ticket when going out to dinner with a work colleague and it’s since caused tension between them both.

The woman, 23, works for a company in a “pretty big city”, and often goes out to dinner with her 24-year-old co-worker since they both “enjoy going out to restaurants”. The woman relocated to the city for the job whereas her colleague was born and raised there.

Because of this, the woman often defers to her friend’s recommendations and insight regarding where they ought to go for dinner and drinks since she knows the city inside out.

Recently, they “made plans to go to a restaurant in downtown” and the woman drove them but she was wary about finding somewhere to park.

As with many cities, “parking was hard to find” but “about a block away from the restaurant, there was an area” where on-street parking looked permissible.

Since there was a “lack of cars in this particular area,” the woman felt uneasy and “unsure” as to whether they “were allowed to park here”.

Wanting to avoid a hefty fine, she suggested they find “a spot further from the restaurant” and just walk over instead. As they’re both “perfectly healthy” and able to walk, it wouldn’t have been an issue to her but her colleague protested.

Her colleague insisted it “would be fine to park there and nothing would happen” and when the woman aired her worries and anxieties about being fined, her colleague “kept reminding” her that “she’s from this city and she would know if you couldn’t park there”.

On Reddit’s Am I The A**hole, the woman explained: “I decided to just park there to avoid an argument. We go to dinner and walk back to my car and lo and behold, there is a ticket on my windshield for parking in that zone.”

She was “upset” and her coworker told her it was a shame the area had been checked “this time” which prompted the young woman to ask if she knew people weren’t actually supposed to park there.

At this point, her colleague “started stuttering and trying to change the conversation” and the woman “knew she was lying”.

She “confronted her and asked her why she would insist on parking there when she knew” there was the risk of a fine.

Her colleague “admitted she didn’t think anyone would check and see if [anyone] was parked there and that she didn’t want to do the walk from farther away to the restaurant”.

The woman added: “I told her that because she put me in this situation, she needed to pay for the ticket. Now my coworker is upset and saying that it’s not fair for me to ask her to pay for the parking ticket.”

She sought opinions from her fellow Reddit users, who were keen to weigh in. One popular reply reads: “[Everyone sucks here]. While coworker gave you bad advice, you went against what you wanted to do and what you thought was right to avoid an argument.

“I think the fair resolution is that you both pay half as you were both wrong.”

Someone agreed: “This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Ask her to split the ticket with you. She knew it was a no parking zone and lied. But the driver is the one in control of the car. She didn’t put a gun to your head.”