My week started off with what was supposed to be my first ever court appearance on Monday morning. The fine was $287 for failing to come to a complete stop at a sign on our way to the wave pool last month. (Yes - the ticket I was given on the same unfortunate day that included the ‘poop soup’ incident.)
I had my spiel all planned out… The fine was exorbitantly high, the stop sign was further away from the intersection than provincial specs. require, the policemen were standing in a huddle and joking around/not paying attention while picking out a steady onslaught of supposed offenders in an all out spree of entrapment and, most importantly; I think I stopped. I mean, I always stop… I think.
I was all set to tell a judge all of this.
My scheduled appearance was between 9 am and 3:30 pm on Monday so I took care of dropping the kids off at school and arrived at the courthouse around 9:30. The common/waiting area was FULL of grumpy, frumpy looking people and the lady told me I was looking at around an hour wait when I checked in. I was also informed that I wasn’t going to see an actual judge - but rather and ‘advance prosecutor’ and that I could discuss my case and set up an actual court appearance date with him. It was a: “special service they were pleased to provide to the public.” I didn’t know exactly what that meant. What was immediately apparent to me, however, was that I was one of only a few people who could have gained admittance into the 'I Took A Shower This Morning Club' (or even this month - UGH.)
I was called into his office a little after 1 PM.
I was so frustrated after spending close to four hours standing out in the ‘Hall of Bodily Odors’ that it was hard to speak clearly through my clenched teeth. By then my logical, reasonable and well-rehearsed defense against this heinous accusation of law breaking had been reduced to: “I don’t feel I am guilty of this.” He said “Okay then - we can schedule a court date for you.” The reality and weight of his words actually struck quite a nerve as I had just spent the last 3+ hours watching the people with actual court dates wait for a comparable amount of time for a different door in the building to open up on their behalf.
In near total exasperation, I told him, “I don’t want and can’t afford to spend another day just waiting around here!!!” His reply was simply: “I can appreciate that - and can reduce this offence to ‘Failing to comply with a traffic signal’ and bring the fine down to $175 IF you‘ll plead guilty.” As was his plan from the very beginning, he wagered that their system of gross inconvenience would overwhelm my resolve and weaken my integrity. And he was right. I pouted. Stomped my feet a little more heavily on my way up to the counter. And paid the fine.
I couldn’t believe that I was willing to let a justice system sway my moral compass. That a system that was supposed to protect me and uphold laws for the good of the people had become little more than ‘The House’ in Vegas… I was exhausted, beat up and I had just lost.
That night I rambled on and on about this to Cherie. Innocence, corruption, greed, integrity, inequality, people who should really practice better personal hygiene - the whole bit. She was kind enough to listen to me ramble on for the better part of 10 minutes before cutting in to say: “Oh for God’s sake, Rod. You ran a stop sign and had to pay a fine. Get over it.”
The worst part of this being that I think she may be right… I think.
-
Work this week has been ’business as usual’ which is actually a bit of a relief! The jobs may still be smaller but they are starting to stack up now. After complaining for months about being slow, I actually had someone ask me how much longer I was going to take on his project! I tried to remember the last time I had to appease an impatient customer and took a minute to realize (with a bit of a smile) that this is the busiest I’ve been in quite some time. A couple rush projects and an entry into a local radio station’s design contest are the projects that stand out from this week - with some fun ones coming down the pike.
Thank you for reading!!! Hope you’ve had a good week!
Rod
I had my spiel all planned out… The fine was exorbitantly high, the stop sign was further away from the intersection than provincial specs. require, the policemen were standing in a huddle and joking around/not paying attention while picking out a steady onslaught of supposed offenders in an all out spree of entrapment and, most importantly; I think I stopped. I mean, I always stop… I think.
I was all set to tell a judge all of this.
My scheduled appearance was between 9 am and 3:30 pm on Monday so I took care of dropping the kids off at school and arrived at the courthouse around 9:30. The common/waiting area was FULL of grumpy, frumpy looking people and the lady told me I was looking at around an hour wait when I checked in. I was also informed that I wasn’t going to see an actual judge - but rather and ‘advance prosecutor’ and that I could discuss my case and set up an actual court appearance date with him. It was a: “special service they were pleased to provide to the public.” I didn’t know exactly what that meant. What was immediately apparent to me, however, was that I was one of only a few people who could have gained admittance into the 'I Took A Shower This Morning Club' (or even this month - UGH.)
I was called into his office a little after 1 PM.
I was so frustrated after spending close to four hours standing out in the ‘Hall of Bodily Odors’ that it was hard to speak clearly through my clenched teeth. By then my logical, reasonable and well-rehearsed defense against this heinous accusation of law breaking had been reduced to: “I don’t feel I am guilty of this.” He said “Okay then - we can schedule a court date for you.” The reality and weight of his words actually struck quite a nerve as I had just spent the last 3+ hours watching the people with actual court dates wait for a comparable amount of time for a different door in the building to open up on their behalf.
In near total exasperation, I told him, “I don’t want and can’t afford to spend another day just waiting around here!!!” His reply was simply: “I can appreciate that - and can reduce this offence to ‘Failing to comply with a traffic signal’ and bring the fine down to $175 IF you‘ll plead guilty.” As was his plan from the very beginning, he wagered that their system of gross inconvenience would overwhelm my resolve and weaken my integrity. And he was right. I pouted. Stomped my feet a little more heavily on my way up to the counter. And paid the fine.
I couldn’t believe that I was willing to let a justice system sway my moral compass. That a system that was supposed to protect me and uphold laws for the good of the people had become little more than ‘The House’ in Vegas… I was exhausted, beat up and I had just lost.
That night I rambled on and on about this to Cherie. Innocence, corruption, greed, integrity, inequality, people who should really practice better personal hygiene - the whole bit. She was kind enough to listen to me ramble on for the better part of 10 minutes before cutting in to say: “Oh for God’s sake, Rod. You ran a stop sign and had to pay a fine. Get over it.”
The worst part of this being that I think she may be right… I think.
-
Work this week has been ’business as usual’ which is actually a bit of a relief! The jobs may still be smaller but they are starting to stack up now. After complaining for months about being slow, I actually had someone ask me how much longer I was going to take on his project! I tried to remember the last time I had to appease an impatient customer and took a minute to realize (with a bit of a smile) that this is the busiest I’ve been in quite some time. A couple rush projects and an entry into a local radio station’s design contest are the projects that stand out from this week - with some fun ones coming down the pike.
Thank you for reading!!! Hope you’ve had a good week!
Rod
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