I follow the rules

I have a reputation among my friends at work for being a stickler for the rules. One even used a label maker to affix the phrase "I FOLLOW THE RULES" to my work laptop last year. When my coworkers want to cross the street against a "Don't walk" sign, I hold back. When we were at Greenbuild last year, and they wanted to skip an all-staff meeting so we could make some progress on our demands in the press room, I got nervous. And when I sold my car this summer, they all thought it was hilariously unnecessary when I went out of my way to use my lunch break to walk to the DMV and return my license plates. "I still have my license plates from a car I sold three years ago," they said. "The DMV doesn't actually expect you to return your plates, even if it says so on their Web site," they said. But I did it anyway. And I kept the receipt.

And then, on Thursday, I got a letter in the mail. From the DMV. It was a NOTICE OF UNSATISFIED PARKING TICKETS. It accused me of failing to pay a parking ticket I received on Dec. 14 for parking in an alley at 13th and S streets. The ticket was attributed to a car with plates reading CX1904 - my old plates - but the car was a Chevrolet. It seems that either the parking enforcement officer incorrectly transcribed the plate number, or someone new has been assigned my plates but the DMV records have not been updated, or someone is using fraudulent plates with my old plates' number. So I called the DMV, and I was instructed to write a letter and send it to their office, along with a copy of the notice and my receipt for turning in my plates.

A receipt which I have.

A receipt which none of my coworkers would have had, given the same situation.

I follow the rules.