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?
I was always under the impression that Friday ends at 11:59:59pm and Saturday begins at 12:00:00am.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Absolutely, but since when has midnight-3am been rush hour?
Good point - maybe it’s a noise-related regulation (discourage private traffic by penalising parking in the area).
Think street sweepers. Most major metropolitan areas, if they clean the streets at all, do so in the wee early morning hours.
/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.”
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.
GrizzRich gets the brass ring.