Dear Officer Peterson,
A month ago when you pulled me over, you were pleasant and I appreciated that. I had a car filled with children and you did your best to help me calm down. When you wrote me a ticket for an expired tag, I didn't immediately hate you. I thanked you even, when you told me that if I got my vehicle registered soon the judge would probably reduce the fine or dismiss my ticket. It was nice of you also to mention that I should keep the ticket in my car so if I got pulled over for the same expired tag, the next officer would be less likely to give me a second ticket.
When I went to court today after having my car re-registered within 24 hours of receiving that ticket I felt confident based on the wonderful experience I had being pulled over. Surely court could not be the worst part of any ordeal involving police and tickets. But Dekalb County Recorders Court is probably the closest I have come to hell on earth. It sits among rows of what looked like abandoned buildings, along side animal control, and the dump. I had to pay five dollars just to park, so I could sit in court and be treated like a petty criminal. The judge did not care that I had registered my vehicle so soon after learning my tag had expired. The fact that I was driving an unregistered vehicle was all that mattered. And I probably could have dealt with handing over all of the money I made over the weekend running my ass off waiting tables, but on top of that to have to sit in court and waste another three hours of my life, and then have to pay for parking and another five dollars in ATM fees just to get out of there without having to go on probation. All of that was too much.
So thank you Officer Peterson for giving me the opportunity to see how shitty my life really could be.
Thanks,
Gillian
