Can a parking ticket be rhetorical? Well, let's start with the working definition of "rhetoric" that is used by my colleagues. Rhetoric is situated, strategic discourse. And so, I would argue that a parking ticket can indeed be rhetorical.
It is situated. The situation is this: Someone, we'll call her Bridget, violated the clearly marked and highly logical rules of parking her car in a metered parking lot. In this modern day of using plastic rather than cash, Bridget made the unforgivable mistake of driving around with little to no coinage. She found three dimes stashed in a glove compartment - that got her fifteen minutes on the meter. Fifteen minutes to do what she had to do, and, of course, that just wasn't enough time. But, being the devoted, sensible student she is, Bridget decided her scholarly duties were far more important than parking violations and decided to risk getting fined.
And fined she was. Below you can see the evidence of Bridget's culpability.
This little piece of paper is rhetorical proof that she failed to successfully return to her vehicle before the fifteen minutes were up.
Also, the parking ticket is strategic. You'll notice in the picture of the ticket that the amount of the monetary fine is printed in bold to make it the most prominent text on the paper. That is the spot that would immediately draw the eye. The ticket-receiver wants to know, "How much money do I owe?" Then, immediately below that line is a line that stipulates, "AFTER 10 BUSINESS DAYS $25.00." That is the next spot that would draw the eye. The ticket-receiver now wants to know, "How long do I have before I have to pay more?" With this information recognized, the ticket-receiver most likely shoves the ticket into her glove compartment to be forgotten about until about Day 9.
At this point in the analysis, it may not seem like the ticket is particularly strategic (at least not in a negative way), but allow me to continue. At this point in the story, our parking violator triumphantly realizes that she still has her OOPS Voucher. This voucher is like a coupon that Parking Services gives out when people buy their parking passes. It is good for one parking violation. So, Bridget saunters into the Parking Services Office, places both ticket and voucher on the desk, and expects the matter to be taken care of. No such luck.
"You have to use the OOPS Voucher within 5 business days," says the desk worker. Crap. Why must the voucher be used within 5 business days if the fine does not increase until 10 business days? Bridget wonders. Because both the ticket and the voucher were written to be strategic. Information was strategically placed on the ticket to make Bridget believe she had 10 days to pay off her fine without added penalty. Information was strategically placed the voucher to prevent Bridget from using it to cover the cost of her parking violation. The cost of the fine does not change between Day 5 and Day 9, but the opportunity to use a voucher does change.
Sure, rhetoric is great, but it can be really frustrating sometimes! Just ask Bridget.
