I Fought The Law and I Cold Won

As much as I respect laws, I rebel against law enforcement every chance I get.

I generally obey laws not out of strong moral fiber and fear of law enforcement. Generally, I just believe in obeying the laws. Except for the really stupid ones. Then, they don't apply to me.

And for that, I'm on probation for the next six months.

I kid, of course, with some hint of truth to it.

When I was in college, my car had a broken brake light. On my way to work one day, I got pulled over for speeding. Luckily, he gave me a warning for the speeding but busted me for the light and no proof of insurance, I believe. Later that month, I had to appear before a judge to show proof of insurance and a fixed brake light.

I had never appeared before a judge before. Heck, I had never even received a speeding ticket (still haven't - even after 18 years of driving). I thought I'd be busting rocks on the chain gang.

Anyway, I went down to the courthouse and waited in line with the rest of the hardened criminals. I kept telling myself to be respectful to the judge, beg for the court's mercy, and maybe he'll be generous. I began listening the stories of the people before me as they appeared before the judge. Several were there for parole violations, DWI's, PI's, and other nefarious crimes. When I meekly showed His Honor my broken brake light ticket, the look on his face was one of wasting his time. He dismissed it before I had a chance to say a word.

Such is my experience with law enforcement. Until yesterday.

Last February, my debit card expired. I pay several bills from that account which are automatically deducted each month. One is my account with the North Texas Tollway Authority. About once a month, they deduct $40 to pay for the next month's tolls.

When I got my new bank card, I updated my account information -- and lost that card about a month later. When I got my replacement card a couple of weeks ago, I updated every account (again) with my new information. Somewhere between the expired card and the lost card, my NTTA balance dipped into the negative, thereby incurring fines, fees, and any other reason to charge me more money.

Want to talk about punitive? 4 tollway violations cost me $700. But, I was able to sign a waiver promising not to incur any more toll road violations for 6 months. If I drive the straight and narrow path, they'll waive the fines. If not, I'll have to file bankruptcy to pay of the debt.

It's not that I'm scared of. It's holding onto that dang debit card and not losing it for a third time in as many months.