Traveling through the streets of Los Angeles in a white hybrid, a Mexican man navigates from parking sign, to parking meter, to painted sidewalks, and back; over and over until his shift ends. Mexicans working jobs that Americans refuse to work shows visibly on his face. Tickets and tickets fill his day. His job ruins a person’s day. Every time a pair of eyes reach his their souls connect.

The panic in the eyes of an unknowing citizen tugs on his heart strings. It means too much to him to break a heart of a fellow hard working citizen. Many Parking Meter Officers learn to grow a shell over their hearts with the constant repeating of “it’s my job” and “they should have known better”, but the tender organ in his chest beats freely with love and compassion. Prior to saying an oath of parking enforcement he lived a life at night of a hero in the back of an ambulance.

Sirens, lights, and the beating of his heart overtakes his body nightly while he rushes to the aid of someone crying out in need of help. Screams blare over the sirens, blood so red it stands out against the red emergency lighting, but the heart beat overpowers all other senses. The screams of pain, the visions of mutilations, and the fear of loss screams in his face to run, run faster than ever to find help. The heartbeat he hears, one beat at a time, it overpowers the pain, visions, and fear. His heart beats loud enough to barely notice that he saved a life. He only notices the next call and mentally prepares to save another life. Sadly his life saving job slowed down since the hours his employer provided wilted away over the last several months. Unwillingly he applies to the Parking Meter Officer position, it pays more with more hours, but the work hurts. The work of passing out tickets chips away at his soul. One ticket at a time. The only redemption he finds in his job comes in the form of a smile when he voids or stops writing a ticket. Every encounter he steps into ends in a smile, his little works in the streets brings joy to strangers. He walks around looking like another city employee, hopefully one day everyone encounters the Parking Meter Saint.