To the Editor:

The North Carolina State University campus should be a psychologically safe place for our students and staff. However, the other day, I was shocked to not see my bike after a meeting in Talley and subsequent meetings. 

I learned it was impounded because it allegedly presented a safety hazard although I had parked it numerous times on railings without issue. Clearly, such a determination is contestable without any metrics applied, but the mere fact of its disappearance caused great psychological distress at that moment, especially because I needed it to get to Centennial Campus. 

Of course, impounding, ticketing or other punishment is at the discretion of the authorities, but I contend in the absence of a clear and present danger, we should let first time “offenders” know by affixing written paper warnings, especially if they kindly give the offender the benefit of the doubt and their bicycle is not an immediate threat; otherwise, we devolve into a Pharisaical or Machiavellian campus. 

I’ll never forget when I first got to North Carolina, a trooper did not issue a ticket to me — I did not yield space when he was parked on the side of the highway — because of my ignorance. For this impounding, I would have been so glad to have been warned with consequences for a second offense, but I was not given that privilege.

In the event of a non-immediate threat, we should strive to be kind rather than to be right as a way to continue to promote humanity. I now registered the bicycle, with the accompanying sticker. I now recognize the proper spaces for parking but will carry with me the trauma of the event, the image of the violated lock and the inability of any parking personnel to show empathy.