Southern Hospitality?

I was recently invited to join a few friends to unwind on a Friday afternoon after work at a local restaurant “ The PUB”. This group of friends, all in which work at the near by schools and college, get together occasionally on a Friday afternoon, to visit, eat and or have a couple of drinks and discuss the normal small town happenings.

This restaurant is located down town Natchitoches, which currently has construction on the famous front street brick project and needless to say the parking is horrible. The Bank of Montgomery, purchased the property next to “The PUB”, which use to be small shops and made a local branch office out of it.

It was Friday after noon approx 5:00pm and I pulled up to the north side of the restaurant, in between the Bank of Montgomery and The Pub, parking behind another vehicle that was parked next to the fence of the restaurant. I noticed one of the bank employee, peering the blinds at the back door of the bank. Even though all of the bank’s parking spots were empty and the bank was closed or closing (the banks usually stay open later on Fridays), there were signs in every parking space at the bank that read Bank parking only all others will be towed. Therefore I didn’t park in there spaces and parked next to the restaurant, where there were no signs along the wall, nor any signs on the light pole, (on that side of the parking lot). I thought I was safe.

As my food arrived and I was in the middle of conversation with my friends, a lady came and sat down at the table next to ours, saying there was a tow truck out side towing away vehicles that were parked at the side of the restaurant. Hearing this I ask the women who’s vehicles were being towed and she answered with a description of mine.

I immediately jumped up, leaving my meal and friends to go find out if it was my vehicle and why. Sure enough as I rounded the corner of the restaurant, a tow truck had the back tires up on a flat bed of his tow truck. I asked him why he was towing my vehicle and he responded by saying the Bank of Montgomery called him to come tow the vehicle. I again ask him why, There were no signs up where I was parked and he pointed to a piece of paper on my windshield. It read “This is your final warning” and something about being towed. ( I never got the first warning?????) I again asked him, how he could tow my vehicle if they had no signs posted and I didn’t park in any of the empty parking spaces along side the bank that were posted. The driver then explained the whole parking lot belonged to Bank of Montgomery and it was private property and they could do what they wanted. It cost me $50.00 to get the driver to unhook the steel cable from my car, that I had to pay on the spot.

I sit here writing to you, because I always thought we had Southern Hospitality here in the south, but not any more. I feel as if the employee at the bank, that was watching me park, could have stuck there head out the door and informed me not to park there. Or the person that came out of the bank to put the notice on my car, after I had went into the restaurant could have made about 20 more steps to come into the restaurant and ask me to move it. Or better yet they could have posted signs like they should have and saved us all the time and trouble, and especially me (the $50.00).