Cool Geoff's contribution

I was always pretty aware that ever since I'd imposed that quota on myself that if I ever failed to meet it one month then the whole thing would fall to pieces.

No, to shreds! (To shreds, you say- Professor Farnsworth)

Frantically doing whatever to match an arbitrary deadline wasn't particularly helpful, but having the out to not sit and write anything isn't exactly constructive either.

It's the end of the month, and I certainly didn't want to leave an entire month fallow of entries- especially not when I've been given a lovely post from Cool Geoff that all I have to do is copy and paste. It's a sequel of sorts to my post here: http://stonetextures.blogspot.ca/2012/10/court-date-no-names-of-course.html

Read, enjoy, and I'll see you next month.

"
So, I was asked by Isaac to write a sequel to this entry, based on my experiences. See, that "May 22, 2013 court date, in room E-2 at 10:30am" came, and I was the one who had to attend it this time. Now mind you, being the person who originally was given the tickets, this makes a whole lot of sense.

I was nervous, scared, all those normal but uncomfortable things. See, money is something I am okay with losing due to my own ignorance, combined with my own desire to not cause a fuss just for the sake of said money. If I was a lawyer, or wanted to hire one, I was sure my transgression on the road could have been argued in a way that meant a lesser charge. However, I have this weird sense of belief in the Police force, and laws in general, and basically figure that these people generally keep us safe, so I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt even if it means some inconvenience. So, a few days before my court date, I had this sort of calm acceptance to my fate, however deserved as it may have been.

But then I found out the demerit points stay on for longer than a year. See, with going off to another country, I figured, hey I basically don't drive here for a year, points go away, everything's fine. But nope, they stay on three years. That's not fun, and insurance is expensive enough, so this made me nervous again.

After talking it over with my current homestead's maternal unit, she gave me some comforting advice about pleading guilty with an explanation. Sounded fishy to me to be honest, but it was reassuring in a "I am paranoid that this will get me into more trouble" sort of way.

I end up heading out there super early. I am stopped by a well dressed woman handing out cards, one of those "We win or it's free" deals. More on that in a little while. I take it and smile, and she apparently realizes it's too late for me, as she just says "good luck" as I walk away into the building of my fate.

After standing around for a while, I start getting nervous I am being looked at for being suspicious, so I head into the court rooms area despite still being 10-15 minutes early. I am forced to remove everything from my pockets (including that business card from earlier, it mocked me from the airport-style tray) and walked through the scanner

beepbeepbeep

The officer said it was probably just my belt. And it was. If only airports were this kind.

I walk in, and see a few officers sitting on benches up at the front of the Court Room Zone. I sort of have my incident running through my mind. Were one of these men my officer?

So I walk down the hall-ish place, and look for the sign confirming my appointment. And surely enough, courtroom E2 is the only one without a paper indication. So, I trust in Isaac, and wait. Eventually we are all led in, and I am eventually standing in a lineup to see the prosecutor, much like the original story of which this is the sequel.

Here's where the first major difference comes in. See, the man is a super friendly looking guy. Casual, but professional. Kind of like a pre-owned car salesman who personally inspects and nurses cars back to fighting form while getting to know their families. Maybe that's a comparison that makes no sense. Either way, he was a super endearing fellow with just the right amount of intimidation/lawyer-ness to keep me from completely lowering my guard. I eventually get up and he asks, similarly to the first movie, "What do you want to do?"

I nervously start muttering about how the officer told me if I brought examples of this thing I could- "Don't worry about that, it's this other one which is the problem. Do you want me to lower the charge, save some points?"

Inner me: "Yes, this would be fantastic, all my fears and anxiety is now gone, this is truly a good option for the system, myself, and the progression of today's events."

Outer me: "Yes."

Prosecutor: "Okay I'll see what I can do, have a seat"

So, really, that was it. I sat down, and waited an agonizing amount of time. Or at least it seemed like it. All the formalities happened, the clerk walked in, then the Justice, standing was had, names were read, admissions of guilt were had, a suspicious guy kept coming and leaving the court room which freaked me out.

And then it got to a woman. There was an error, so one ticket was dropped. And for the other one, no officer. She was confused, but after it was made clear she could go home, the whole court room laughed slightly and she was gone.

Then it came to me. The prosecutor pronounced my name wrong (with some hesitation), but when it came time for me to say my name, he corrected himself and said something like "Yeah I thought that might be it."

Then he says my officer isn't there and he's writing the reason in his notes. Thusly, I don't have to worry about anything.

The Justice says I am free to go.

And I go; feeling like a boulders had been separated from my shoulder blades.

And so ends the story of how Isaac's helping me out (or, noble sacrifice if you prefer) saved me hundreds of dollars.

In the end, I look at that card, and all these places with "We win or it's free" and all the deals/agreements made and I think...

Traffic Justice is weird. Really, I think the incentive to drive safe (aside from the obvious) is to not have to wait in lines. And really, I think that does a whole lot more than fines or points."