THE article ‘‘Discretionary advice: Parking rangers asked to be lenient’’ Herald 16/1) reminded me of a time some years back when I was visiting Thirsk in the north of England.
I couldn’t work out the parking system. Cars displayed small cardboard clocks on their dashboards, but I didn’t have one and didn’t know how to get one. I thought they might be just for residents parking in their own streets. I left my car (without a clock) in a parking area and spent a very pleasant afternoon in the James Herriot Museum.
Arriving back at my car, I saw a parking officer, whose first words to me were: ‘‘Oh, good, you are back. I don’t have to book you.’’ He then explained the system to me very nicely and told me what I should have done. He was a wonderful ambassador for Thirsk and not at all critical of me. I now have only pleasant memories of Thirsk. Had I been booked, I would have left muttering darkly and vowing never to visit again.
Gillian Fehlberg, Eleebana
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