Is Midnight Friday, Friday at 12 am or Sat at 12 am?

[EasyPhil]

The reason I'm asking is because I got a parking ticket and the sign reads no parking Midnight to 3am Mon, Wed, and Friday. Of course I though midnight Friday was Friday evening or Saturday at 12 am. Teeming millions, what say you?

[NightRabbit]

I was always under the impression that Friday ends at 11:59:59pm and Saturday begins at 12:00:00am.

[Horseflesh]

Most people think of any time of the night as belonging to the day that started the night; e.g. evening begins around 6:30 pm Friday so all night times belong to Friday until dawn when not specifially referring to clock positions. IOW, if I say I got up in the middle of Friday night, I may be referring to a time that actually occurred at 1:00 am this morning (Saturday). You generally don't hear people say "I got up at 1:00 am Friday night."

In your example they are referring to a specific time, 12:00 am, except they are using midnight to refer to it (probably a bad idea, as you can see). If you replace midnight with 12:00 am on the sign, it then becomes clear. The preceding day always ends at 11:59:59 pm and 12:00:00 am belongs to the coming day. You should have gotten a ticket only if you were parked there between 12:00 am and 3:00 am Friday morning.

[EasyPhil]

Well I did get a ticket for parking there after 12:00:00 am which is Friday morning. IMO, the sign is ambiguous if it says midnight.

[Colophon]

Well, you wouldn't argue when 3am on Friday was, would you? No, it's completely unambiguous. Therefore, so is "midnight - 3am" - if the 3am in question is on Friday morning, then the midnight must be earlier, and therefore on the Thursday/Friday night rather than the Friday/Saturday night.

What I want to know is where the heck is this place which prohibits parking only in the early hours of certain weekdays?

[Crusoe]

Lots of places, often in large cities where commuter routes can become blocked with traffic if vehicles are parked or loading/unloading during rush hour.

[Colophon]

Absolutely, but since when has midnight-3am been rush hour?

[Crusoe]

Good point - maybe it's a noise-related regulation (discourage private traffic by penalising parking in the area).

[Stana Claus]

Think street sweepers. Most major metropolitan areas, if they clean the streets at all, do so in the wee early morning hours.

[GrizzRich]

/travel guru hat ON/
In the travel biz, we think of it this way...
11:59pm Friday night
12:00m Friday night
12:01am Saturday Morning
Midnight and Noon hold neither AM nor PM disctintions, as they are the dividing lines between the two.
/travel guru hat OFF/

IMHO, the sign should be more specific...
"No parking 12:01am to 3:00am, Mon, Wed & Fri."

[elfkin477]

No parking midnight until 3am on Friday...hmmm. Then that midnight is one minute after 11:59pm Thursday. How is that ambigious? Even if the midnight threw you, the 3am on Friday is obvious enough.

[kniz]

GrizzRich (http://greenwichmeantime.com/info/noon.htm) gets the brass ring.:D