File this under a personal Milwaukee first: a parking checker who stopped writing me a ticket when I ran up to my illegally parked car and smiled sheepishly.

It happened just the other day, and I couldn't have been more surprised. I parked my car, ran into Alterra for just five minutes, then came back to my space, where I hadn't bothered plugging the meter.

The parking checker was there, and I could tell she was in the process of writing me a ticket. I mouthed, "I'm sorry, I'm leaving now" and she actually smiled. Nicely.

At first, I assumed that was a sarcastic "tough but I already started writing the ticket" smile, so just to be sure, I gave her the "thumbs-up, thumbs-down" gesture.

She smiled again, gave me the thumbs up, and drove off.

Could it be that the parking checkers are mellowing out a little?

Let's hope so. As the guy who got enough parking tickets in the '90s to put all of the Department of Public Works' kids through college, it was a welcome change.

Thanks, parking enforcement woman. You made my day.