Remember the whole ticket situation we've been dealing with for the past month? Well, I have an update which doesn't involve the cops pulling me over and hauling me to jail for unpaid fines.
After not receiving a call back from the city attorney (thanks a lot, dude) and talking to two lawyers PLUS the state district attorney's office, we learned two things:
1. Out of principle, we should fight it because two of the tickets should not have even been issued to us.
2. If we did fight it, though, we would probably have to pay even more than the rotten tickets.
So, as we had to make a quick decision (because it's not like I'd get a phone call back from the police chief to extend my court date; oh, no, this city apparently doesn't know what RETURN MY MESSAGES means), and, as I did not really want to go through the whole arrest thing and I could not go to court because I was giving a final that day, we decided to pay it.
I'm still a little sore. It's a sore loser soreness, though. =)
We paid on 11/06. For once, I actually kept all my records. I sent the mail and requested a return receipt. I did everything perfectly.
And, all of last week, guess if I received a return receipt.
I started to get really panicky by Thursday, two days after my court date. I had to drive out of town a couple of times, too, and I was just praying, "Please, God, if I have to get arrested, let it be in my hometown, because at least I know some of the cops there who would help me out." Now, within my city limits, I was not worried about getting arrested. Yeah, it would be annoying and slightly embarrassing, but, the journalist inside me can't help but think of what a great column that would make (I'm crazy, I know). BUT I did think that it might not be good for my students (or their parents, for that matter) to see my name in the arrest report. My parents might not be too thrilled, either.
Plus, I bet they don't give you coffee in jail. Or, if they do, I bet it's nasty, day-old coffee that's not hot. Yuck.
However, yesterday, praise the Lord, I got a return receipt. FINALLY. I will keep it in my car (my dad reads this, so I just want to verify this for him, lol) for...well, until I get a new one at least.
So all ends well. The mean cops got their money, but I didn't get arrested. A fair compromise, I suppose.
4 comments:
LOL, so glad you didn't get hauled off to the Big House, my friend! :)
so i'm still new to your blog and now i need to go back and read up on all this. how scary! i bet they don't serve starbucks though. probably just folgers with some dried up creamer packets. good thing you didn't have to go! ;o)
If you do get arrested, can we have the sock party at jail?
If she'd had gone we'd all have to go down there and lay outside the jail in protest.
Even better, we could have put the whole thing on YouTube or something.
Glad to hear that it's over.
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