San Francisco resident creates viral app to track cops and help friends avoid getting parking tickets: 'Some heroes don't wear capes'

It's a sight everyone dreads: you're walking back to your car, and you see a meter maid in a neon vest placing a ticket on your windshield. You sprint over, hoping to stop them, but sadly, it's too late. As soon as they input your info into their little device, it's all over for you, pal. Instead of a quick trip to the mall or the library that would've cost you $5 in parking fees, you've now got to cough up like $65 for the dastardly crime of parking your car in the same place for too long. 

Obviously, this is the kind of thing that a lot of residents truly despise. It's not exactly a crime that needs to be punished, it's more of a way to make money for the city. People gripe about getting tickets for speeding, but that's a safety issue, right? Parking rarely is — unless you're blocking a hydrant or not allowing the bus to get by you or something. So yeah, there's not a lot of love lost for these neon-vested street patrollers. 

This person had an amazing idea: they basically Uno-reversed the coppers, allowing anyone to see their locations. I checked the site when it was operational, and it was a marvel! Unfortunately, it was very short-lived, as the city probably considered it a safety concern. Ugh. Wouldn't it be nice if this site could actually work for real, forever? 

Up next, read about this kind employee who decided to guide a 16-year-old new hire through her first day on the job despite all of the "stressed out" coworkers who didn't want to deal with her: "Over the next 5 hours I worked side by side with this child."