Friday, June 01, 2007

Maybe I'm tooo Italian....

Son of a bi***h! Can I say that here? I’m just a little pissed off. It seems today I got the news that I had a little "run in" with the law. I received a multa (ticket) in the mail! You see they have cameras all around Italy that will catch you breaking the law and this time one of them got me (yes, again! This isn’t the first time!). It seems that going through a red light is not allowed, contrary to what I’ve seen. Wait! Let me explain before you get all judgmental. The ticket says that I went through a red light at 3:09 PM on a Sunday. Come on! On Sunday afternoon there is NO ONE around! Who waits at a light at a time like that? Evidently, I will in the future. So learn from my mistakes, kids.
The picture in this blog is from that faithful day. Yep, that’s right it was way back in October when my parents were here. Can you believe that? I went through a red light with my mom and dad in the car. I cannot for the life of me remember doing this. I had to use Google to find the town where I got the ticket and it was one that we travelled through that day. I can't believe they even have a light. The light and camera are probably the best investment that town has ever made because now I have to pay 152.60 euros. Son of a bi***h! And yes it takes 8 months for the ticket to find me because it’s a lease car.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

damn, Jeffo, that is one heck of a ticket. But just think, when you only have 8 months left on your lease, you can do whatever the hell you want, because they'll never find you then.

Anonymous said...

What a money grab. I'd be furious.

Delina said...

We got 3 tickets from a trip to Florence. They turned up months after too. I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket for going through a red light...If they gave those kind of fines out in Naples I think that the whole city would have a collection.

Anonymous said...

Don't you mean 'fateful' day, not faithful? :-D

Jeff Gromen said...

lo,
No, I can't go crazy as they will come and find me to pay for the fine. There is a coworker that called to say they have a fine too and they aren't in Italy anymore!

Violette,
The lease company just pays the fine automatically whereas real Italians would fight it! I, at least, want to yell and wave my arms at somebody before I pay.

Delina,
Think what Napples is missing. Then again it wouldn't be Naples if they crack down on the driving.

Anon,
Thank you for the correction. Spellcheck can't fix everything!

Jeff

Shelley - At Home in Rome said...

Oh Jeff, my man, I feel your pain. I am getting like four tickets hand-delivered by raccommandata to my door on an almost daily basis. I'm prob gonna write about it cuz it's getting out of control. The reason? My neighborhood requires a resident parking permit (which I've had for four years). They changed the format of the permit (on paper instead of laminated... totally lame and no reason to change it) ... and here's the rub: you had to apply for the new one, but in between the time they discontinued the old one and issued your new one, the old one wasn't valid and so basically you couldn't drive! Well, I thought, screw that, that's BS, and drove. Now I'm paying. I've gotten I think over 30 tix for this.... it's becoming a sad joke. luckily Ale being a lawyer can appeal all of them. But what a waste of everyone's time and money. CHE PALLE!!!!!

Shelley - At Home in Rome said...

Oops, I meant to say you couldn't enter the neighborhood and park. So what I mean is that every time I took my car in or out of the neighborhood, and every time I parked and they caught it, I got a ticket. Only, it's like you say, the tix show up months and months after the fact. I might still be getting these tickets when my future children are in high school... who knows, this is Italy...

Kataroma said...

Ugh - makes me happy not to have a car! (sorry about the smugness)

Che palle!

Jeff Gromen said...

Shelley,
You must be setting a record! It will be nice having a lawyer on your side for this one. I parked in Rome once, it was before I knew that I wasn't allowed to do that being a non-resident.

Ramona,
I can't believe that I'm even pondering being without a car, but I could do it.

Jeff

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