[Saxon]

Road tax is a pretty straightforward thing and a relatively progressive form of taxation. If you have a vehicle, you need to pay a yearly tax that goes to maintaining the roads upon which you will drive. It is not a very North American idea, where we think we have a god given right to good roads, but it is not a bad idea. The people who use the roads pay for using them and see that they are paying to do so. A petrol (gas) tax usually goes into general revenues and may or may not be used on the roads, while the road tax usually goes straight to the roads department.

In any case, I had not paid my yearly tax, so I was legitimately nailed by the cop. I wanted him to just give me the ticket and let me go to court (no simple and rational things like a fine at city hall, I would actually have to go to court) but he would not give me the ticket. Thus the informal, but time honoured, method of conflict resolution.

I did not get my wallet cleaned out, but I did end up paying about five times the going rate. I usually can talk my way out of these things or at least get the ticket I deserve issued, but not on this occasion. I even tried taking him up on his offer to spend the night in the cells, but he was not interested, at all, in due process. The Last time I ended up paying a bribe was when I was fresh in country and I actually thought I was paying bail. When I asked for the receipt, I found out just how ice cold a police officer can be, so I chalked that one up as a learning experience and got out of the station quickly.

I was thinking of Tigga’s trick of having a picture of the Justice Minister in my wallet, but have a better solution. I will keep a picture of my mother in my wallet, the sight of whom should make any man flee in terror.

The two wallets trick is very useful in muggings and break ins. I have some money set aside at home for such an occasion. It is enough to convince a thief they got the stash and hopefully convince them to leave. It is also nice to have the cash on hand in case of something unusual, like a coup. With elections coming up, we might get to have some interesting times. So, who was coming down to play hot seat during their vacation