Speeding Ticket

I got a speeding ticket today. Which I think is grossly unfair. Okay so I was 38km over the limit, but who doesn’t speed? For the past month I have been commuting 140km round trip every day from Limassol to Nicosia; therefore it is inevitable I will speed. And if you speed, and commute every day then chances are you will be stopped. So the day before I leave for my holiday, when money is tight, I get a ticket for €65 and 2 points on my licence! Now I only have 10 points left. One less and I am on single digits!

I pleaded with the policeman not to give me a ticket. I told him this never happened before, (I only got my licence in March) but he kept on writing regardless. Then I explain that I have to go to work, and my apartment isn’t ready and that I’m commuting and that I have to run errands such as go to the bank and…
‘Wait. What? You work in a bank?’ he asked.

If I thought it would get me off, I would have said yes. Maybe they give discounts to bankers when they get a fine. But if I lied and was found out, I could have been accused of perverting the course of justice, or entrapment of the policeman by lies or something that sounds more complicated than embezzlement.

So you get punished when you break the law, although in this case I was making the best situation of and empty road at 7.58am! If they punish you for speeding shouldn’t they reward you for slowing down? For example: if you get no parking tickets for a year then you should get free parking in Nicosia or central London for a month! No drink driving? Then here, have a bottle of whiskey, compliments of the State (but no drinking in the car, you might spill it). They punish the bad (resourceful in my case) but do the reward the good? Oh no! IN-JUST-ICE!
After the ‘incident’ my mother brags to me that she’s never had one point taken off her licence. But I remind her that she doesn’t drive daily to Nicosia and that she had an accident with a Rolls Royce once. Then she says that it wasn’t her fault! Fine, it wasn’t… but it was a Rolls. That’s the equivalent of boiling bunny rabbits in road-terms. Then my dad screams at me for getting a fine, and the irony is, he speeds like a racer at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after drinking too many margaritas!

So I have no understanding from the law and no sympathy from my family. And I’m already broke and going on holiday tomorrow for two and a half weeks. I got so stressed out that I should take another week off just to get over this! Three and a half weeks holiday, if only all it took was 2 point and €68! I’ve gone from plane ticket to speeding ticket!

What bothers me isn’t the money (that bothers my bank account) nor the points, (well, a little). I’m not even bothered about breaking the law. What bothers me is that I got caught. And I hate getting caught. It means I am getting sloppy. Forget my conscience. It’s my ego that’s precious. And my ego will never let me forget this. Especially when I have to drive slowly (120km an hour) on the highway. And I’m annoyed. Annoyed that I couldn’t talk myself out of the situation. I’m BabyBusinessMan, negotiating is my thing. If I can talk myself into a company, how is it that I can’t talk myself out of a speeding ticket? The whole situation reeks corruption! Exploitation I say! I blame the parents! Specifically mine for being such a bad moral compass!

Anyway, it was my birthday last week, and not all of you got me gifts. So, if you are still feeling generous, then please feel free to give me a present. Specifically CASH! I accept Euros. (Dollars no thanks, not now during the recession). As I am going on holidays to the Balkans, I also accept, Serbian Dinar, Bosnian Mark and Croatian Kuna. Minimum amount €20 please. I accept cash, card and cheque. And if you really want to go to Heaven, give me all three.

(I had to write about this. I’m determined to get my €68 worth so I’ll be talking about this for quite a while. Just wait and see what happens when I go to the station to pay this! That’ll be a blog and a half!)