"Doesn't look like it, just a lot of stuff for someone named Current Resident. Oh, wait, here's something from the Clerk of the Court." She holds the envelope out to him then just as he reaches for it she pulls it back. "Has Jackie been a bad boy?"
"I'm bestest when I'm baddest." He takes the letter from her and opens it. "What?" He flips the paper over, scans the back side then flips it over to inspect the front side again. "It's a speeding ticket!"
"You? You are the slowest driver I know. What's it for, not reaching minimum speed?"
"Very funny. I'm not a slow driver, I'm a safe driver."
"Don't tell me, tell it to the Clerk. What's he got you down for?"
"Uhhh..." Jack scans the paper. "Holy! Two hundred and fifty six dollars!" He reads further. "For doing fifty one in a fifty mile an hour zone."
"That's crazy."
"That's what it says." He shows her. "I'm not paying it! They can't do that! One mile per hour over, that's ridiculous, cars aren't calibrated that closely! I can fight this."
She had been reading over his shoulder. "No, it doesn't look like you can fight it."
"What?"
"It says that your speed was reported by your vehicle and confirmed with sensors in the road and again by timers in the red-light cams." She reads further. "And you don't even have to write a check, they have automatically deducted it from your bank account."
"What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?"
"I guess they have enough evidence to prove you guilty."
"How do they know it was me? Maybe it was you driving."
"Good try but it says here that your key fob registered your fingerprint. Looks like you're busted."
"This is insane! I want a lawyer. I am going to fight this." He pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through listings for lawyers.
"And what are you going to tell the lawyer? How are you going to raise reasonable doubt that you weren't speeding when they have all of this evidence?"
He puts the phone down.
"Face it, they got you."
"You don't think this is a little scary? One mile an hour?" He watches as she thinks about it. "What else do they know about me? About us? About anyone? Everyone?"
"You mean like you just looked up lawyers on your phone?" She folds the paper, puts it in the envelope and hands it back to him.
NOTE: This picture has nothing to do with the story. The picture is all about balance. It was taken just after sunrise using a very long exposure (1/6th of a second at F5.6 with an ISO of 400) to capture the streetlight's illumination in the background and filled in with flash in the foreground. The camera was hand-held and set to second-curtain-sync to eliminate the effects of shake on the foreground elements.
Wow, really - that's where we are heading and the next generation of kids will not know that it used to be different. Regulatory law overrides the Federal Bill of Rights - In NJ - you can't smoke in your car with a kid under 12 years old - What's next? Banning hot coffee while driving? banning coffee in the office because some special interest group disapproves of some obscure danger to others??
ReplyDeleteMy Lord, here I am in Washington reading your blog (smile). Interesting. Big Brother. I can see the Washington monument from here -- getting there is the challenge. I will do it!
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