It should have been so simple but it never is. I had taken my son and nephew (that's two separate people just in case you thought things were getting a bit too Norfolk) to the cinema in Cromer, parked the car and went to get a ticket. I knew I didn't have much change on me and soon realised that I didn't have enough to pay for 3 hrs. I am not a risk taker so, rather than just go for 2 hours and take a chance I decided to pay by card. Now, I don't mind things being complicated when they have to be like brain surgery for example, or choosing what to eat on a night out, but buying a parking ticket ffs?I followed the instructions. Insert card, choose time, key in pin + validate. All I got was a message flashing 'Abort'. I tried the process again. Same outcome. By now people were forming a queue behind me jangling coins and tutting, so I did the decent thing and told them to p*** off. Only joking. I let them get their tickets. After a while the crowds had dispersed so I tried again. By now I must have been gone about 10 minutes, leaving the children in the car to play with the handbrake. What a blessing Norfolk is flat. At this point a friendly traffic warden (unbelievably NO irony intended) came to my aid and talked me through the steps again. Same result. He suggested I use a different card. No good. He suggested I tried a different machine.
On my way over to the new machine I stopped off to tell the kids that I was still alive and to grab a nourishing snack. This could go on some time and I needed to keep my energy levels up. Finally, after three more times of trying it worked and I staggered back to the car brandishing my hard-won prize. It was definitely the hardest I had ever had to try to spend £2.40.
