Stocking Stuffer Helps Avoid The Denver Boot

DENVER (CBS4) - For those still struggling to come up with the perfect present, the city of Denver suggests the gift of parking as a great stocking stuffer.

It's a major bummer -- the dreaded Denver Boot -- the penalty for three or more unpaid parking tickets.

Fully feeding the meter was a problem on Tuesday for Chris Oelerich.

"My wife had five quarters and I just didn't think it was going to be enough to cover so we had to borrow from a friend of ours," Oelerich said.

Others admit to begging for change.

"Yeah, absolutely, all the time or you hope a fairy comes by or whatever -- a meter fairy," said a man parking downtown.

City officials recommend commuters wise up and buy a ParkSmart card. It looks like a credit card, but the plastic is made just for Denver parking. And 'tis the season for gift giving, so the city suggests you wrap up one of the pre-loaded parking cards.

"It's something definitely outside the box; it's something unique that I think people will really enjoy," Christine Downs with Denver Public Works said.

The cards come in $5 to $100 increments. Find them at the Wellington Webb building and also the Tattered Cover bookstore and King Soopers stores.