Raves, Rants & Roses

RANT: A Good Samaritan is one who helps others in need, and is not expecting a reward. Right? Wrong. One of our friends who live in the outskirts of Tyler called my wife in her time of need. She had a debilitating problem which needed the attention of doctors at the hospital. Her husband was at work and not able to respond, so my wife drove to her home and transported her to the hospital for treatment.

Arriving there, she found that all the parking lot spaces were full, so she noticed a line of cars parked along the street, and hurriedly parked the car and rushed her in to be treated. After many long hours of waiting for her to be attended to, they returned to the car to leave. She found her "reward" on the windshield of the car, (and on all the other vehicles parked there) ... a nice little brown envelope announcing the issuing of a $14 parking ticket.

My question is, why does the city of Tyler have "No Parking" signs, discreetly placed around hospital street boundaries, to prevent us from using the facilities without penalty? Other streets with the same width (and even more narrow) do not have "No Parking" signs to prevent parking at curbs. Disgraceful! It seems to be just another way to collect more money for the city ... no regard for the citizens. They know people in distress need access to the hospitals without having to walk for blocks to get there. Have a heart, city barons, and try to be a Good Samaritan, too.

Buster Barlow
Tyler