expiration date 

on the way to drive my dad to the gym, i got pulled over by cops. this happens quite often to me, so i’m pretty much used to this. the reason is that my car doesn’t use the original the license plate given by the state police, but one of those plates from off-the-street vendors, instead. i guess, that’s against the law. or something. because so far, i can get away with various reasons… like:

“well, this is not my car. i borrowed it from my aunt…. see, the name on the car registration card is not my name” — while it’s actually my mom’s name. but that’s okay. they don’t know.

or:

“i lost the front license plate in the flood a few weeks ago…” —i know it sounds like “my dog ate my homework” types of excuse, but flood happens so often that it has become a quite effective excuse.

anyways, a few days ago, sirens rang behind me, and of course, it’s the police patrol car. my dad and i have gotten ready to pick which excuse to use, when we realized that i left the car registration card (STNK — in indonesian) at home. eek!

so, i thought, oh well… this time, we’re busted for sure. the regular excuses won’t work. i guess the only way is to bribe the cop. you see, here, bribing cops is a common practice to avoid fine tickets. it’s no big deal. we just slip the money along with the paperwork he requested (don’t br too obvious, though… no matter what, it’s still an under-the-table action), then, off we go. although there are times when the cop would bargain to get more money. we usually ended up pay more than the fine itself, but it sure save the time spent in the courtroom. it’s an easy way out. we call it: reconciliation (jalan damai — in indonesian).

while i started to reach my wallet to get the bribe money ready, my dad decided to argue with the policeman. ehh, what’s going on? i thought we’re just going to reconciliate…? it was a long-winded argument. when the cop was away to call his office and verify that we’re not driving a stolen car, my dad looked at me and said:

“hey, we’ve never been to the court, right? let’s try it out…”

ehh, what can i say? i mean, i was the driver. and the cop has my driving license. and my dad was all fired up with his (at that time, pointless) argument, which pissed the cop off. there is no way we can reconciliate. i’m sure i’m going to end up getting the ticket anyway. and, well, i have to admit that i am also curious on how the court works here. so i put my wallet back into my bag.

after over an hour, i went home with a pink slip as a replacement of my driving license. the court date isMarch 16, which is next wednesday. so, let’s see what happen there…