I want to commend Suffolk’s parking police for their efficiency and attentiveness to their job one morning last week.

There I was, a volunteer, parked in the loading zone in front of the Workforce Center, unloading the tables, boxes of books, raffle baskets and jars, decorations, and so forth that the Literary Council had taken out for our Peanut Fest booth, not realizing that the 20-minute time limit took priority over the amount of stuff to be unloaded.

And there were the parking police, keeping an eye out to see how I would do in this Suffolk Timed Parking Event.

I know I made at least six trips: load dolly; wheel in building with hopefully someone standing there to open the door; wheel down hall; wait for elevator; go up elevator; wheel down longer hall; unload dolly; reverse steps; start process over.

Did I mention I am a volunteer? And that I am over 60?

Maybe if I had jogged the distance, I might have been able to unload my SUV within the 20-minute time limit; or if I hadn’t stopped long enough to move two boxes of books from the office down the hall at the request of an older friend; or if I hadn’t stopped long enough to draw the names for the raffle; or if I hadn’t had to find the person with the key to the office.

Darn, I guess those three “stops” took me out of the running for Suffolk’s quickest SUV unload event.

Well, anyway, as professionals, the parking police did an outstanding job sticking to the letter of the law. I, on the other hand, failed the Suffolk “Unload SUV within 20 minutes and deliver to destination” Parking Event. I’ve already put my $15 parking fine to-be-paid-within-five-days in the mail. I know I don’t want to fail another Suffolk timed event.

By the way, if you know any adults who need help reading, the Suffolk Literacy Council is ready to help them. However, remind them to not to park on Main Street longer than they should, because Suffolk’s parking police are well-trained and eager to perform their duties perfectly.