Towing Companies Are Evil

Before I start this post here's a couple of notes. First of all, don't go to any Collina's restaurant unless I say it's alright (you'll see why if you read this post). Second, if cursing is a pet peeve for you then don't read this one because this is going to be an ardent post and I'm not going to hold back just to make this blog rated G.

I wonder if the bad tow truck drivers go to Hell. I should hope so. My brother closed his house today (he bought it in Jersey Village) and so we decided to go to Collina's and have dinner to celebrate. This was on Richmond and Weslayan and it was a center with other shops and restaurants so there was shared parking. A lot of the spots were only for that particular place (the ones right in front of them), so I searched and searched and finally found a spot with no such parking warning sign on it in that same center at the very end. There were five of us and we came in 5 separate cars to the restaurant. After we ate, we chatted for a while and then decided that we wanted to go somewhere else for dessert. The restaurant was clearly getting ready to close mind you, but there were still other people there and there were still some other cars in the lot, though it was not nearly as packed as earlier. Since we were going somewhere closeby we decided to all go in one car. We had a great dessert, and then came back thirty or maybe forty-five minutes later. My brother's girlfriend couldn't spot her car in the relatively empty lot, and I knew for a fact as soon as we entered that my car was not there. The first thought that came to mind is that we got towed, and I was right. There was no sign in front of my spot, mind you, advertising that I'd get towed if I left nor was there one on my neighboring spots. In fact, it was so packed when I first parked that I couldn't see any signs on that side of the lot (after living in Austin a year I know the importance of checking). We call the number on one of the sparsely placed signs (stating that you'd be towed at own expense if you're not a customer at any of these places to paraphrase) and find out that this place on Bissonet has both our cars and they're holding each ransom for $171.89. Of course, we are livid at this point. Our cousin's wife, who came along, still had her car there luckily so she left and my brother took the two of us to that towing place (the fifth person took us for the dessert obviously so she went home also).

When we inquired on the phone, the guy at the towing place told us that they towed us because they have video surveillance and they "know" (because they're omniscient, duh) that we left our cars there. That doesn't explain why they only got two of the four cars (though it is luck that the other two remained, indeed). We get to this run-down place and the guy at the desk has a desk that is about 7 feet off the ground. There is only a slit small enough to take paper and cards so that you can't shoot him and so you can barely see him I suppose. My brother's girlfriend got hers back no problem. My car being so newly acquired though the title had not officially transferred over yet on the system. I give him my insurance information and the license plate number, but that wasn't enough. I understand the liability issues with him giving me the car without direct proof of my ownership, but they have a fucking brown man walking out of a green Volvo on tape and then walking into our friend's car so they know it's me. If that gives them the fucking right to take my baby away from me then why doesn't my presence give them the right to give it back to me? What kind of a shitty double standard is that?

Please comment and tell me, what the fuck did I do wrong? Who did I hurt by leaving my car there? Not only did we save gas but also the pollution of four cars going the exact same way. Did we not patronize this restaurant? Did we take advantage of their parking? Was I informed that this would happen? I looked into the Texas transportation code and it doesn't say exactly what I hoped it'd say but it does state that there be a sign to "state that the vehicle is in a space in which the vehicle is not authorized to park." There was no such sign in my spot. The money I give to them when my dad goes and gets the car will be dirty money akin to the blood money Judas accepted for Jesus (not that it's nearly as serious, but just to explain what I mean by "dirty"). It's written in the bible that those who reap money from the sweat of others' brows are evil. I guarantee you that I worked hard for that fucking $171.89 and those cock sucking bastards robbed me of it. You have no idea how angry I am that I save my money to use it when I need to so I don't have to say "I can't afford to hang out with you" to my friends since I don't have much money and now I've lost $171.89 for doing nothing wrong. I've lost it for eating at Collina's, that piece of shit establishment. We plan to go in there and let all Hell break lose. Please, I humbly beg you to not support this dirty restaurant unless they refund us these towing charges. I feel horribly wronged here. I didn't know that I have to look 200 feet either side of my parking spot to make sure that it's legal to park where all the other cars park who want to eat Italian food.

I love my car as much as you can love an inanimate object. It is my first car and it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's pretty and it gets me to where I need to go and keeps me happy while I drive with a good stereo and everything. I feel incomplete without it (it even hurt me when the a/c had problems) and as such you are getting an incomplete post here. Instead of something meaningful and informative you've got me rambling. I'm sorry about that, but I feel so angry and sad to know that my poor baby was dragged on Highway 59 by that filthy tow truck for doing nothing wrong. For me to do a standard post would be superficial. This injustice will not be forgotten, and let it be a lesson well-learned for you through my personal pain.