parking paradox

i accompanied some students at a music festival in milton. i did a search online to see where the church was located, saw it was on a busy street with parallel parking (i love google streetview). i sighed to myself, and made a mental note to leave 15 minutes earlier to ensure i could find a place to park and brought extra coins with me.

when i arrived, i was confused...there were what appeared to be parking spaces, but they were empty. almost all of them! there was a row that was right across the street from the church where i had to go, but i was convinced it must have been an area that only special people could park in, because why else would all the spots be available? it was even beside a ministry of transportation office, and even though it was before 9am, i figured most people would get there early to avoid line-ups. i dubiously parked there, and then looked for a parking meter to pay. i couldn't find one. i looked for signs telling me i could only park there for a certain period of time, or maybe a sign telling me i can't park there until 10am. i couldn't find any.

i went into the church and asked the woman working the front desk whether i could park on the street. she looked at me like i was crazy and said something like "of course you can, why wouldn't you be able to?" and i explained to her that there were plenty of available spaces, there was no parking meter, and no sign telling me i had to move after a certain period of time. she still looked at me like i was crazy. no, toto...clearly we aren't in toronto anymore!