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My friend and I were sitting on a motorcycle when a police officer demanded $35 from us (to this day, I still donāt know why exactly that amount). Our "translator," the moto-taxi driver, stood nearby and clearly felt uncomfortable being part of this whole situation. The phrase "Well, buddy, you just have to give him $35" didnāt exactly convince me, hahaha...
I asked the "translator" to ask whether I was actually being fined. Although, honestly, I pretty much understood what the cop was saying. The officer said yes, I had violated something and it was a fine. Okay, I said, ask him what the fine is for, and then Iāll pay.
As I mentioned, there really wasnāt much to fine the motorcyclist for, except maybe not wearing a helmet ā and even then, I was wearing one as a passenger. It was hilarious to watch this petty extortionist try to come up with a reason to fine me. And he finally came up with one. He decided to check the documents to see who the motorcycle was registered toā¦ he smiled as he asked for the papers, clearly thinking the bike was registered to someone else (which is common in the Dominican Republic ā few people bother to officially transfer ownership of old scooters and bikes because the process is long. None of my three scooters were officially registered to me). But he was in for a surprise. With an even bigger smile, I handed him the documents ā and surprise! The motorcycle was registered to me, since I bought it new from a shop and was the first owner.
The look on the officerās face was priceless. He had no more reasons to fine me. He was literally grinding his teeth in frustration, while I kept smiling at him like an idiot just to spite him, hahaha.
But he didnāt give up. He started shouting that I had to pay the fine.
"A fine?" I asked.
"YES!!!"
"Alright, Iāll pay. Write me a receipt, and Iāll go to the bank today and pay it." (Thereās a specific bank for paying these kinds of fines, and I knew which one.)
That was it. He lost. He had no more arguments ā not that he had any to begin with. That jerk thought he could scam some naĆÆve tourists, but he picked the wrong guyā¦ 1 reply
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