- Honest Officer
- 12 years ago
- 3270 views
Did not pay bribe for traffic voilation
Had gone to Mysore with family for 2 days visit. Misled by my GPS took a wrong turn into one-way road and stopped by traffic cop at the end of the road. As suspected cop asked park to the side of the road in a intersection he was very patiently guiding the other visitor vehicles into right direction. Nice guy but wanted to take whatever I can afford to pay without any receipt and let me go. However I took out 100 rupees for fine as he mentioned and asked for receipt. He was not carrying any receipt book or anything to record my violation. He said we would need to go to station if we needed the receipt. I said that's fine. Then he said give me whatever is reasonable to avoid further delay in letting us go. I stood my ground and made it clear I would not cover up my mistake with another mistake and I am kind of guy who would insist on receipt for any amount of fine, one rupee or thousand. Then the guy said the receipt book is with another guy having breakfast at home and it would take forever for him to reach the intersection. I say I can wait. Interestingly enough during all this time he was doing his duty quite well. I was talking to him in native language and while we were waiting for the guy holding the violations boo, I appreciated him for his work. Finally he admitted that the guy with violations book would never show up and I could go. I repeated again that I could wait until the fine is paid with receipt. He said first violation by a visitor is forgiven and no need to wait. I was reluctant to let myself off the hook, but having seen the traffic he was handling I did not want to cause anymore distractions to him and drove off to my destination. Lesson learned for me was - never fully trust GPS and get cozy with directions in a new city. I also learned that people are generally not as bad as we think they are and more than money they need appreciation for the good work they offer to society. At the end of my conversation with the cop I noticed he felt a good about his job and we both parted with a surprisingly good feel of not having to do one more wrong thing.