Are The Rules Always The Rules?

Last night I found myself experiencing a conflict in my head. Let me explain.

I live in a neighborhood where you pay a monthly fee to park in a lot. You're issued a different color sticker each month and the parking regulation is enforced 7 pm to 7 am. The area is home to several bars, restaurants and river front attractions.

Parking has long been a problem on Friday and Saturday nights when party people use the lot, go to the nearby establishments then come back for their cars after the bars close. Making lots of noise and littering the lot and the streets along the way.

Not long ago there was a crack down and the tow trucks began hauling cars out of the lot just as fast as they could hook them, drag them off and then come back for another round. Many has been the night that I pulled up a chair, cracked a cold beer and watched with admittedly great amusement when people staggered back to the lot only to find their car missing.

So fast fast forward to this week. There was a huge family Trick Or Treat event in the neighborhood. Families pulling their kids in wagons. Others dressed in costume and holding their little candy bags and headed to or coming back from the event.

Promptly at 7 pm the tow trucks arrived and started hooking and towing the vehicles that had parked in our lot. And this time I failed to see the joy in it. Instead it made me very sad to see the cute little kids and their parents coming back after having fun at the event to find their vehicle missing.

I kept thinking. "they just wanted to take their kids out to the Halloween Party and now it's ruined for them." I even had misty eyes as I watched one Mom literally spin around in circles because she couldn't figure out what to do now.

So why is it that I think it's funny when it happens to the bar goers but made me incredibly sad when it was from the kids Halloween Party? After all it is posted. Then I found myself making excuses. Well, it's not posted very well, etc.

So are the rules always the rules? No exceptions? No gray area?

What do you think?