Vindicated

I love One Colorado. It's a beautiful part of Old Town Pasadena where late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historic buildings surround a courtyard. Rather than have these wonderful structures torn down they've been refurbished and are now shops and restaurants.

Even the One Colorado parking is okay. It's across the street at Union and Fair Oaks. The lot is well lit, easy to drive around in. Usually there are plenty of spaces.

Bit these days the lot is automated and the payment system is, shall we say, less than transparent. The machine has a mechanical voice. Pleasant guy. He tells you what to do. You do it. Then a little sign lights up and tells you to wait. You wait. The line behind you gets longer.

There's something else you're supposed to do at this point but the machine doesn't tell you what it is, nor does the sign. You have to guess. You have to hope your intuition will guide you through the final steps of the process.

At first I thought maybe it was me. Maybe I couldn't figure out the machine. Was I (oh no please no) getting old? You know, like I said I never would? Would a 21-year-old know what the last step is?

I had thought the parking garage was automated to save money on employee costs but when I took this photo there were two employees sitting in an office to the left. An office with a window. A window that looks out at the payment booth. This payment booth. Where this line continued to get longer because people were waiting while the machine didn't tell them what to do.

It's a relief, actually.