silly me
I am about to send a check for $1 to the Illinois Tollway system. Why? Because on the way to Kentucky, I forgot that our I-Pass is still in the other car. I breezed right through the fast lane, realizing too late that I had missed my opportunity to pay cash. The toll in Rockford, IL is one dollar. ONE DOLLAR. A buck. I worried a little at the time that I'd get a notice in the mail with a picture of me driving blithely through the tollway, with a notice of a big old fine attached. But then eleven hours later, when I finally pulled into my parents' driveway with two sleepy kids in the backseat, I'd forgotten all about it.
On the way back home last Wednesday, as we prepared to go back through the tollway, I remembered and confessed to Stuart. Yes, confessed. You see, I NEVER break traffic rules. I'm not a rule-breaker in general, (except for being a political lefty and really feminist, but that's different.) The worst I've done is accidentally park in a disabled spot on campus, which, by the way, was only temporarily for the disabled; it was usually metered, which is why I didn't realize I had done anything wrong. My argument didn't fly with the UW traffic nazis, sadly, so I was stuck with a hugely unjust fine. Bastards. I won't tell you how much that cost me, but it was a huge chunk of my piddly little graduate assistant paycheck. Huge. (I pointed that out in my plea for mercy, but they didn't buy that, either.)
So tonight we looked up on the IL tollway website what to do if you blow through the tollway like that. Well, I say "we" but it was really Stu because he's even more of a rule-follower than I am. And it turns out they forgive you for doing that a couple times, because we are human and we all make mistakes and besides, for pete's sake the sign that says KEEP RIGHT FOR CASH ONLY only shows up about 6 feet from the concrete wall that divides the I-Pass lane from the cash lane. Golly gee whiz. I owe the toll, so I'm going to pay it, but I won't get fined unless I make that same mistake twice more.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write that check.
(I didn't rebel much as a teenager. Can you tell?)
On the way back home last Wednesday, as we prepared to go back through the tollway, I remembered and confessed to Stuart. Yes, confessed. You see, I NEVER break traffic rules. I'm not a rule-breaker in general, (except for being a political lefty and really feminist, but that's different.) The worst I've done is accidentally park in a disabled spot on campus, which, by the way, was only temporarily for the disabled; it was usually metered, which is why I didn't realize I had done anything wrong. My argument didn't fly with the UW traffic nazis, sadly, so I was stuck with a hugely unjust fine. Bastards. I won't tell you how much that cost me, but it was a huge chunk of my piddly little graduate assistant paycheck. Huge. (I pointed that out in my plea for mercy, but they didn't buy that, either.)
So tonight we looked up on the IL tollway website what to do if you blow through the tollway like that. Well, I say "we" but it was really Stu because he's even more of a rule-follower than I am. And it turns out they forgive you for doing that a couple times, because we are human and we all make mistakes and besides, for pete's sake the sign that says KEEP RIGHT FOR CASH ONLY only shows up about 6 feet from the concrete wall that divides the I-Pass lane from the cash lane. Golly gee whiz. I owe the toll, so I'm going to pay it, but I won't get fined unless I make that same mistake twice more.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write that check.
(I didn't rebel much as a teenager. Can you tell?)
Comments
My tags expired in August. It's November. Does that freak you out?