Incentive

Today I did something that everyone has to do at least once in there lifetime. I just never dreamed it would come this soon in my life, and so soon after the events of a different day. I was an actor today in an event which is often spoken off in hushed tones, and greatly regarded as a nuisance to all who are required to take part.

Today, I went to traffic court.

Let us recall the event which landed me here in the first place:

"We can make Sherlock Holmes in time, there's no one at the theater," my boyfriend said as he hung up his cell phone.

"Ok, we're taking my car," I replied, knowing that we had very little time to go a stop-light populated route. As it was New Years Day, I was somewhat skeptical of the whole 'there's no one in line' business. And I hated to be late.

But then I got this brilliant idea to go the back way, and not just go the back way, to speed as I did so.

"Slow down, Danielle," he said as I pushed my little '88 Honda over 80 on a 45 road.

Why, I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes at him, there's never any cops around here.

This was right about the time I noticed a white car parked on the side of the road in a very unobvious spot.

"That's a cop," David said.

"No its not," I replied, but pushed on the breaks a little just to be sure.

And that's when I heard the sirens.

Needless to say, we didn't see Sherlock Holmes that day.

So, here I am, 3 months later, sitting in traffic court with a speeding ticket and my stomach in knots. Why anybody would want to go through this, I'll never know.

Six am found me waking up, as my sister had mentioned before that the earlier you got there, the sooner you'd be seen by the judge. I was walking out of my house at 7 am, freshly showered, make-uped, all be it groggy, but somewhat ready for what was in front of me.

The court system is a classic example of hurry up and wait. It seems most government institutions implement this way of thinking into everyday situations.

7:20 found me standing in line, waiting to see the clerk to tell her what exactly I wanted to do, which, in this case, is to lower my fine and get an extension (after all, I am a struggling college student, and who has $250 on hand?) She didn't actually start going down the line until 7:30, which means she finally took my paper about 7:45 and directed me down to Department #1 aka Traffic Court.

So here's the situation: Its 7:45, the doors don't open until 8:35, and the judge doesn't actually come out until 9. Whats a girl to do for those 50 minutes that she has to wait in the halls?

Being that I am a good student, I took up my American Political Science book and passed the time reading (Articles of Confederation vs The Constitution, by the way). But the constant press and drown of people called me out of my secluded world of politics to people watch.

The two people sitting on my right were of Latino decent, and only spoke to each other in their native language. This I considered extremely rude and chose to inch my way a little further down the bench. The recently vacated space on my right was promptly filled by a young man whose cologne had me sniffing the air and wondering what it was that smelled so good (I find cologne irresistible).

All to soon that spot on my left was filled by an older lady wearing way to much make up and smelling of cigarettes. Her hair looked as though it had never been washed, and she carried a book that looked as though it had never been read. I found myself holding my breath until it came time for the doors to open. She seemed nice enough, though.

The doors opened at 8:35, the sheriff made us all sit down and explained the rules of the game. We sat in comparative silence until the judge entered and the call to "ALL RISE" was sounded. I was prepared to wait for a good 2 hours, but was surprised to hear my name called 2nd.

The judge's name was Blain. He asked me very curtiously how I was this morning, ma'am, to which I replied good. He must have seen the fear in my eyes. I pleaded guilty, he lowered my fine and gave me an extra 90 days to take care of it. As I made my move to leave, he stopped me and said "Good luck." I guess I found favor in Judge Blain's eyes, which is what I had been asking for all along.

I found myself in a smaller room, once again, waiting for someone to give my my paper work so I could leave and go save my money. That took me 5 minutes, and the lady was extremely nice.

9:07 found me back on my way to the car, breathing deeply as I told myself it was over. For having got up so early, and waited so long, it sure was anti-climatic.

So, now I have a $215 bill, a whole truck load of experience, and a whole incentive to drive slower. Why anyone would do anything to find themselves in this predicament is beyond me. So, needless to say, I won't be speeding for a while.