Our Family Car Gets A Speeding Fine!

Car pooling with my husband....whose fine is it anyway?

We share a car and are jolly grateful to even have a car. As I have mentioned a lot of times ( I love my husband dearly, but... ) , Bob is usually in the driving seat, driving Miss Biggi. Usually, but not always!

The other day the postman gleefully brought us a letter. One of those letters, where you instantly know that it is not something nice nor friendly. Don't you agree that all those ' Please pay us ' letters have a certain feel, texture and call forth that ' throw it away ' impulse. Bob, likes to make me open all the mail regardless of who it is addressed to. Could that be a clever ploy of his because as they say: possession is 9 / 10th of the law?

Opening said letter, my heart did drop, as it tends to do when one reads an official
' Pay up or else ' letter. Letter is a bit too kind as it was more of a demand. Reading it thoroughly and three times to boot, I realized that we had received a Speeding Fine. To add insult to injury, it was not one, but two.

At first I thought it may have been a mistake with the second one, because it was on the same day, same speed ( 41 kph in a 30 kph zone ) same place. But on my third read through, I discovered that a few numbers on the top were different. Just on the off chance that it was a mistake, we ( of course, Bob waited in the car ) went to the district office building, wherein the office of Traffic Fines resides.

Waiting outside the office was bad enough, as there was another man in front of me who didn't think he deserved his fine. Believe me, when his turn came, he loudly told the lady in charge and I could see her face darkening as he carried on. Oh dear, that boded well for me!

Knowing when I am beaten, I was just in the process of slinking out, when she called me in. My rather timid question about our fines made her go to the cupboard and pull the papers out. Clear as daylight, it showed that for the 1st fine, we drove west, and for the 2nd fine ( 6 min later ) we drove east, past the same radar gun!...Gosh, isn't that the worst job to have? Everyone and their Aunt Fanny will argue that they didn't do it / was a mistake / the monkey drove / the radar gun was faulty...

The fine reached us early in November, but the deed had been done in August. How on earth would we know who drove that day? Both of us, like any couple worth their salt, made it be known that we thought the other one was the culprit. It was by pure luck that we didn't have a tiff about it. We realized that it didn't matter as our kitty is combined, small as it is. As Jane Austin would have said: ' Economies had to be had in our household. '

Sharing a car with your spouse might have its challenges, trials and tribulations ( what music to listen too ) but at least you get to spend more time together. Oh, it might be a darn good idea to keep a diary of who drives on what day!
Oh, and I nearly forgot: " Bob, you should be thrilled when I tell you to slow down. "

Biggi