Only in Israel - freely translated by Jameel @ The Muqata. (Seen on Facebook yesterday, August 20th, 2012)
A heartwarming scene you don't see every day.
Yesterday on a crowded street in Jerusalem, as I returned to my parked car I saw a young Chareidi (ultra-Orthodox) man,putting coins into the parking meter next to my car. I asked him, "Are you aware that you are putting coins into the parking meter next to my car?" He replied, "Listen, in another second you will get a parking ticket."
And just then, I see that 10 feet away is a municipal parking inspector looking to write tickets.
"Ashrecha!" [May you be blessed] I call out to the young man, yet he was already running ahead to put a coin into every car's parking meter that had expired.
Yet this wasn't the end of the story. The parking inspector -- a bare-headed, stubble-faced, hefty Jerusalem man chased after the young man, caught up to him, and started correcting him. "This car's meter hasn't expired yet and doesn't need any coins." And the two of them continued down the road. I could not contain myself -- I went up to them and said, "You made my day! You are 2 amazing tzaddikim (righteous ones) and may there be more like you in Israel!.
"I am not a righteous person replied the inspector. He is (pointing to the young man). I am just helping him along..."
Follow the Muqata on Twitter.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
A heartwarming scene you don't see every day.
Yesterday on a crowded street in Jerusalem, as I returned to my parked car I saw a young Chareidi (ultra-Orthodox) man,putting coins into the parking meter next to my car. I asked him, "Are you aware that you are putting coins into the parking meter next to my car?" He replied, "Listen, in another second you will get a parking ticket."
And just then, I see that 10 feet away is a municipal parking inspector looking to write tickets.
"Ashrecha!" [May you be blessed] I call out to the young man, yet he was already running ahead to put a coin into every car's parking meter that had expired.
Yet this wasn't the end of the story. The parking inspector -- a bare-headed, stubble-faced, hefty Jerusalem man chased after the young man, caught up to him, and started correcting him. "This car's meter hasn't expired yet and doesn't need any coins." And the two of them continued down the road. I could not contain myself -- I went up to them and said, "You made my day! You are 2 amazing tzaddikim (righteous ones) and may there be more like you in Israel!.
"I am not a righteous person replied the inspector. He is (pointing to the young man). I am just helping him along..."
 |
| From Facebook |
Follow the Muqata on Twitter.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
5 comments:
Uh, what if the car who's meter looks empty is using Pango!
You can always count on Joe to ruin a great story.
I remember reading a story, at least a decade ago, in the New York Times about a New Yorker who was angry at the city government, possibly over a parking ticket, who found a way to get even. He figured out that the city would lose substantial revenue if he went around putting coins in meters, as the city could not write tickets for overtime parking, which is where the money is.
It turned out that the fellow was costing the City of New York millions of dollars over the course of a year or so, and, of course, the meter maids in the affected area were falling woefully behind their quotas. The police were called in to investigate, and they found a way to prosecute the man. He was convicted and I think he even served time, but I'm not sure about that.
If I had more time I'd Google it to death and provide links. But you'll have to do that yourself.
A few years back, someone was doing the same in Manhattan as a form of protest against the city. The city claimed that they were loosing hundreds of thousands of dollars - a new law was passed prohibiting the practice and the NYPD wound up arresting the guy.
That's right, no Tzadikkim in Sdom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUdTV_FZ0c&feature=player_embedded#!
Post a Comment