Travel Tuesday

Okeedokee---here we go!

I had my day in court. It started with me getting up at 4 a.m. I left at 4:30 for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Metropolis, IL. It ended up taking me only 2 hours and 45 minutes (no, I wasn't speeding---just miscalculated). I listened to a podcast recommended by Mitchell---Hardcore History. I picked the one called Painfotainment. It really helped pass the time.

I also talked to Sandy for about an hour. Her being in the Eastern time zone really helps as I can call her at 6 a.m. since it was 7 a.m. her time. Oh, and by the way---there was a lot of traffic that early in the morning. A lot! I couldn't believe it. Unlike the early Sunday morning when I actually got the ticket when there was no traffic whatsoever!

I got to the courthouse an hour and 15 minutes before my time. At 8 a.m. I got off the phone with Sandy. There was no one there which I thought was odd. I walked up to the door only to find a sign that said "this is not an entrance." I walked around to another door. The sign there said, "court has been moved to 515 Market Street." Thank goodness for Siri. It's a little town. I could have walked to the new location.

There was no chance of missing it as when I rounded the corner, there were at least a hundred people in line! OMGosh! I parked down the street at the back of the building. As I walked up a woman told me that you have to leave your phone in the car. As I walked back to the car, I thought, "Oh great! Now I can't read while I'm waiting for my name to be called." After I dropped off the phone and walked back, I realized that I wanted to take a picture of the line. By then, it was growing. I decided not to go back to the car to get my phone, walk back to take the picture and then walk back to the car again. Still, I'm sorry to not have evidence of how many people were there.

I had to walk through a metal detector---which I set off. I was sure it was due to my bracelets---I asked before walking through if I needed to take them off. The guy just sent me on my way. What's the point of having the metal detectors?

When I got downstairs, I was shocked at how many people were already there. ALL of the seats appeared to be taken and the walls were lined with people standing. I found a single seat in the middle of the 4th row. I started counting (my obsessive tendencies require it). My best guess is that there were about 200 people there---8 rows of 15 chairs and another 80 or so standing around.

A guy in military fatigues in the front row, stood up and turned around. He said, "How many of you have a ticket from Officer Baxter?" Just about all of the hands shot up. He then asked,  "Was it mile 34?" Again, most of the hands shot up. Finally, he asked "How many are from out-of-state?" Just about ALL the hands went up. That's when the entire room realized that everyone here had driven from other states to get here.

When court was supposed to begin, a woman got up and said, "If you are here because of a speeding ticket, we have a one time offer for you. If you choose to plead guilty, we'll reduce the ticket to just a speeding ticket rather than speeding in a work zone. Speeding in a work zone is a minimum of $750. If you decide to plead not guilty, you need to wait for the judge. If the judge finds you guilty, this offer is no longer valid. Everyone with a speeding ticket who chooses to plead guilty needs to line up against the left wall. If you choose to plead not guilty, stay seated. Any other tickets line up on the right wall."

OMGosh! Just about the entire room was there for speeding. The line wound all around and out the door and down the hallway. I was about 50 people back, so that wasn't too bad. Of course standing in line for so long, everyone shared their story. One couple was from southern FL and took 3 days getting up here. Others from Texas, Mexico, St. Louis, Michigan and North Carolina. The couple right next to me, a mother and her 16 year old son drove 13 hours from Wisconsin somewhere. Their story was unbelievable. They had driven to TN because her parents were giving their 16 yr. old grandson a car for his birthday. They were driving the car back---him following her. She got pulled over, so the son pulled over too. The officer told the son to go on. She kept saying, "he's my son, he's with me!" The officer kept yelling at them both and the boy didn't know what to do. So the jerk cop gave them BOTH a ticket!

Every single person said there were never any workers in the work zone. In their states, you don't have to slow down unless workers are present. That led everyone to speculate that this was just a trap.  I don't know the laws in TN about that. I actually slowed down. But according to the cop, apparently I was too late.

Anyway, to quicken the pace of this story, I stood in line for about an hour. When it was my turn, I plead guilty, paid my fine and got out of there. As I was heading to the highway, all of a sudden, my heart stopped. There was a cop behind me in an unmarked car that put his lights on. I was like---"what the ....!" I know I was not speeding. I pulled into a car sales lot and the cop went right on by.
After calming down and cleaning out my drawers, I headed home.

It was a crappy way to spend the day. I'm glad it's over. By my best calculation, Metropolis made about 75K in one day. Seems to me that should cover the cost of whatever construction they are doing (but not actually doing).

Oh, and the woman with the 16 year old boy---they were nice enough to dismiss his ticket. At least that was one good outcome for the day. Well, except they still had a 13 hour drive home! She didn't want him to miss any more school.

FACT: They absolutely do not allow anyone to pay online! You have to appear in person.

That's ridiculous. Once you learn you really have no recourse, what makes the difference whether you pay online or not? Oh yeah, they couldn't get court costs out of you! It's all about the money. Always!

Oh and did you know that speeding in a work zone is a misdemeanor? I learned a lot that day. I always say I like to learn. But, not that way!

While you are reading this, we will be on our way back to St. Louis for a family wedding on Friday. Prior to that, we're doing Route 66 from St. Louis to Chicago. You'll hear all about it next week.