Pay your tickets, folks.
My pal Suzy, who is a cab driver (was a cab driver, I’m guessing now.) went to her cab today, on her way to drive me to work. Two policemen were waiting for her, and took her to jail for unpaid parking tickets. She was warned numerous times, but apparently one squeaked by, and she got nailed for it. She’s guaranteed a minimum of 10-14 days of jail time while she waits until the judge has time to see her plead her case, and then (due to her past record) she might end up spending between 90 days to 15 years in jail.
I have mixed feelings about this. I’m concerned for her even though I know she’s safe in holding right now, so I’m not overly concerned about her physical well-being. When I talked to her on the phone (I had the honor of being her call, since Her other pal only has a cell phone. Can’t call those from Florida jails. I hope that this will teach her a lesson, albeit a harsh one. I hope she gets tested for drug use while she’s there, ideally so she can clean up her act, if it isn’t already. (I suspect that she’s using, but don’t know)… also it’ll be good to maybe scare some sense into her.
While she’s in lockup, someone has to start and stop her car a few times a week to keep the engine form seizing, and we have to make sure her rent gets paid so she’ll have an apartment to come home to. (she lives in an efficiency, and pays week to week) Not only that, but I get to call her mom, dad and sibs to raise $$$ for a lawyer and commissary. (commissary is like a px, or store when you’re in jail… trust me, you need it) Jail isn’t free for prisoners, they have to pay for uniforms, meals, and etc, either immediately or at the end. (usually a combination of the two)
I was totally not expecting these extra responsibilities. I’m sorry, Brad, but it’ll be another month before I can have a paid membership here. It also looks like I’m going to be tossing some bucks to the judicial system in the next some weeks. ow. September birthdays are going to be leaner this year too. (By the way, it’s the day after Suzy’s birthday today! Nice Present! )
Know something people. Save your money, because if you live paycheck to paycheck, you can get knocked totally off-course. Seriously, have something to fall back on. Try your best to save 5% of your paycheck, at least. Worst case, you’ll have money in the bank when you need it, best case, you can retire comfortably.
Next few installments, how to get a bail bondsman, how to visit people in prison, how jail is *not* like the TV show Oz, How it *is* like Oz, and why Scotto associates with known felons.
I’m not sure how busy I’ll be the next few weeks, and how often I’ll be updating, but I’ll certainly be doing it all from work, so I can keep the phone free. (I can take incoming phone calls… but the net doesn’t deal with call waiting.. just ignores it, so I’ll be offline evenings.)
