I knew it. I fucking knew it. I’d taken one step onto the parking lot and could see the ticket on my windshield. Three cars down I saw the guy who’d just written it.

I read the slip of paper, thinking I’d find a quick loophole. No dice. My time had expired and I was parked illegally. The ticket man saw me studying the paper and even walked over to ask if there was a problem.

I explained I’d been at the conference next door and that it had ended at 9:00. Couldn’t some consideration be made? No, he said. The man didn’t smile, but he looked at me with the face of someone who enjoyed being on the correct side of the argument. He pointed to my ticket and noted how it had expired at 8:30. There wasn’t much more to say.

An hour and a half earlier I’d parked in the pay lot behind the bank. The bank opened at 8:30. Until that time, the parking lot was available for use on a pay-by-the-hour basis. I knew that my ticket expired at 8:30. I’d also seen the empty parking lot at the Mexican restaurant across the street. I thought about moving my car, but didn’t. I stayed in the bank lot.

Why? Because everyone else did. There were 20 people parked in the lot and a line of others waiting at the ticket machine. They were all parking here and we were all going to the same morning conference. I sensed what I was doing was a bad idea, but did it anyway because the rest of the herd was doing it.

As I drove to my office, I brainstormed ways to hustle out of this. I was consumed with how to avoid paying my fine. But finally, I stopped. This was my fault. I knew it was my fault. I’d known it before it had even occurred. And now, this was my lesson. Paying the $44 was what I deserved. That was the price of the lesson. For $44, I’d been reminded of the dangers in following the herd.