One of the great philosophical questions of...

One of the great philosophical questions of modern life is: What do you do if you park your car at a broken parking meter?

Do you take a chance and stay? Maybe leave a note flapping in the breeze?

David Bencke of Santa Monica says he has the solution. Bencke has created “Meter Broken” covers that you can place over disabled machines. Cost: Two for $2.95.

“I just kept hearing myriad complaints about people parking at broken meters and still getting tickets,” he said. “Even if you fight the ticket and win, it takes so many hours it’s hardly worth it. Whereas, my product will prevent a ticket and it’s not gonna blow away like a note.”

Bencke, however, has run into a roadblock thrown up by the first city in which he advertised--Santa Monica. “I got a note to meet with the city attorney,” he said. “The note mentioned that I might be violating some statutes, the most prominent being defacing parking meters. I don’t understand how that (the cover) is defacing parking meters.”

Oh, yes . . .

We hate to reveal our deeply cynical nature, but we had to ask Bencke if he thought there was a chance that a, well, dishonest motorist might cover a healthy meter?

“I think,” Bencke acknowledged grimly, “city officials fear that, too.”

List of the Day:

When students of the Inner-City Arts Center were asked to create “The Most Imaginative Fun Meal of Your Dreams” for a charity event Sunday at Citrus restaurant, sixth-grader Mark Raygoza came up with this winning menu:

1--Main Course: “Giant dinosaur BBQ ribs and a mashed potato volcano erupting with gravy.”

2--Side Dish: “Six pieces of fried chicken forming a teepee.”

3--Dessert: “A chocolate fudge cake forming a pyramid.”

The students, many of whom live on Skid Row, will unveil their latest artworks before guests who will pay $300 per plate to benefit the nonprofit agency.

Cost of the event is being underwritten by Citrus. Chef Michel Richard tried to duplicate Mark’s menu but will be forced to substitute “veal rib eye with horseradish sauce” in the main course, dinosaur evidently being out of season.

Viewers of the Steve Martin comedy film, “L.A. Story,” may remember the scene where the poor waiter is hit with several mixed after-dinner beverage orders.

Now, cut to a real-life scene in the Wells Fargo Tower on Bunker Hill, where a fashionably dressed gentleman was overheard giving the following order:

“I’d like half coffee, half decaf, and please leave about 2 to 2 1/2 inches at the top.”

What? No dash of cappuccino?

After reading our item about the Downey City Council outlawing golf-playing in a cemetery, an L.A. resident writes to say that the intruding duffers must have figured “you’ll always find a lot of holes in one.”

A shameless pun, of course. But it’s forgiveable, sort of, since the letter writer’s name is Dan Bunker.

miscelLAny:

Radio station KFWB-AM gives 144 traffic reports per day.