Awesome old man just retired

[PythonWallace]

I just got this email and thought it was great.

From The London Times:

A Well-Planned Retirement

Outside England 's Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were �1 for cars ($1.40), �5 for busses (about $7).

Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn't show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent.

The Council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the Zoo's own responsibility. The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee. The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the City payroll.

Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (or some such scenario), is a man who'd apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own; and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about $560 per day -- for 25 years.

Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over $7 million dollars!
.....

And no one even knows his name.

[llovelace]

[DM1975]

Man, that is something else if it is true.

ETA: Snopes says not true.

[stratus_020202]

So, where can you get one of these ticket machines?

[PythonWallace]

ETA: Snopes says not true.

Well, that sucks.

[Vypyrz]

I'm gonna go look for a parking lot this weekend to set up shop.

After 9/11 I was flying to Japan. I had a layover in Seattle. At the time, you couldn't carry any cigartette lighter, matches or anything. There were guys walking around the airport selling books of matches for $2 each to smokers. At the time, you could get a box of 100 match books for $25 at Wal Mart. These guys were making 200-300 dollars a day selling matches...