Chatham Municipal Court Can Kiss My Ass
Ok, it's been awhile since I've really ranted. So this should be a treat to all of you who are getting bored of the medicated "semi-stable" Meghan.
Let me set the stage...
It's June 7th, I receive a notice in the mail that if I do not pay a parking ticket within 12 days, my license will be suspended. So I scratch my head...parking ticket...hmmmm. Well, I had just paid 2 tickets online about a week prior and hadn't gotten any more since. (Clarification: The car my hubby drives is in my name, for finance reasons. He leaves it out on our road overnight and gets a parking ticket. He does this often. No amount of yelling seems to have cleared this up. Even the fact that I had only had my license back for about a month because of a previous ticket he got and was never paid hasn't corrected this. So...I am screwed because of him.)
So I call up the Chatham court and ask them what it's about. I give them my name, address, license number, info about the car...everything you can think of to see if any tickets were outstanding. The cheerful lady tells me all the tickets on my record have been paid. She assumed the notice had crossed in the mail with my payment. Okie doke then...don't have to worry about it.
Flash forward to last night. I get the mail and there is a notice from the Chatham court telling me that because I did not pay the ticket, my license is suspended. I do believe people in China heard my cursing last night. I chew out my husband again for leaving his fucking car on the road (funny enough, his car was on the road at that moment) and told him to move the God damn thing in now or I was going to torch it. He complied.
So this morning I drive to work ever so carefully. I call up the cheery lady at the court and explain what happened. Her response: "That doesn't make any sense. Why would someone have told you there was no open ticket when I'm looking at it right now?" This was not the smartest thing to say to me, but I kept my temper, and replied, "I don't know how it happened, but it did. If I was told at the time that there was an outstanding ticket, I would have paid it and this would not have happened." All she could say was, "I don't know what to tell you. Your license is suspended."
So now I can feel my ears getting red. But still...I hold it back. "Well, I don't think it's fair that the court made a mistake so now I have to spend the day at DMV and pay a $100 fine. This wasn't my fault."
Now she gets snippy. "You should have called when you got the last notice." So I get snippier, "I just told you that I did call and was told that there were no outstanding tickets." So she gets snide, "Well that doesn't make any sense."
Shit, the Hulk ain't got nuthin on me. "So you're saying it's my word against yours? I'm lieing?" She starts to panic a bit, "I'm not saying that. I just don't know how that could have happened. We have no record of that phone call."
Uh oh. All attempts of being calm fly away. Meghan is now in "manic" mode. I could hear people in the offices next to mine scrambling underneath their desks. "I'm telling you, your office screwed up and I will not pay for that!"
"Ma'am, there's nothing I can do."
"Don't call me ma'am! The court can push a magic button and suspend my license but they can't push one to reinstate it?"
"I don't have the authority. The court administrator is in charge of this."
"Let me speak to him then!"
"She's on vacation until the 21st. You can clear it up then."
"Of course she's on vacation! So I have to either wait around without a license for a week and a half or take a day off work, sit at the DMV all day, and cough up $100!"
"There's nothing I can do."
"Who can I talk to to complain about this?"
"The court administrator."
"Of course! I want her name and number, she will be hearing from me."
So she gives me the name and number, with a great deal of attitude. So before I hang up, I say to her, "This is friggin rediculous! Honey, someone is going to pay for my time and money." Click.
So now I'm seething. Not a good scenario. But wait...there's more! You know what I have to do to get my license back? First, I have to go to the court and pay the ticket. Guess who collects the money? Uh huh...yup. This should be interesting. Considering this is really all my husband's fault...I called him and told him the deal. He is taking half a day to drive me around for all this shit. Plus, there is no way he is letting me see this woman in person alone. The police department is in the same building...I will get arrested for assault. At least I'll have company at the DMV this time.
Now, if I can get home without getting pulled over...that would be something. But I know my luck. It's 11 now...I'm leaving in about 45 minutes. I plan to let you all know how the rest of the day goes...so if I don't post later today, it means I'm either in jail for punching out a clerk, or for driving without a license. Cross your fingers for me...not that it will do any good.
Ok, it's been awhile since I've really ranted. So this should be a treat to all of you who are getting bored of the medicated "semi-stable" Meghan.
Let me set the stage...
It's June 7th, I receive a notice in the mail that if I do not pay a parking ticket within 12 days, my license will be suspended. So I scratch my head...parking ticket...hmmmm. Well, I had just paid 2 tickets online about a week prior and hadn't gotten any more since. (Clarification: The car my hubby drives is in my name, for finance reasons. He leaves it out on our road overnight and gets a parking ticket. He does this often. No amount of yelling seems to have cleared this up. Even the fact that I had only had my license back for about a month because of a previous ticket he got and was never paid hasn't corrected this. So...I am screwed because of him.)
So I call up the Chatham court and ask them what it's about. I give them my name, address, license number, info about the car...everything you can think of to see if any tickets were outstanding. The cheerful lady tells me all the tickets on my record have been paid. She assumed the notice had crossed in the mail with my payment. Okie doke then...don't have to worry about it.
Flash forward to last night. I get the mail and there is a notice from the Chatham court telling me that because I did not pay the ticket, my license is suspended. I do believe people in China heard my cursing last night. I chew out my husband again for leaving his fucking car on the road (funny enough, his car was on the road at that moment) and told him to move the God damn thing in now or I was going to torch it. He complied.
So this morning I drive to work ever so carefully. I call up the cheery lady at the court and explain what happened. Her response: "That doesn't make any sense. Why would someone have told you there was no open ticket when I'm looking at it right now?" This was not the smartest thing to say to me, but I kept my temper, and replied, "I don't know how it happened, but it did. If I was told at the time that there was an outstanding ticket, I would have paid it and this would not have happened." All she could say was, "I don't know what to tell you. Your license is suspended."
So now I can feel my ears getting red. But still...I hold it back. "Well, I don't think it's fair that the court made a mistake so now I have to spend the day at DMV and pay a $100 fine. This wasn't my fault."
Now she gets snippy. "You should have called when you got the last notice." So I get snippier, "I just told you that I did call and was told that there were no outstanding tickets." So she gets snide, "Well that doesn't make any sense."
Shit, the Hulk ain't got nuthin on me. "So you're saying it's my word against yours? I'm lieing?" She starts to panic a bit, "I'm not saying that. I just don't know how that could have happened. We have no record of that phone call."
Uh oh. All attempts of being calm fly away. Meghan is now in "manic" mode. I could hear people in the offices next to mine scrambling underneath their desks. "I'm telling you, your office screwed up and I will not pay for that!"
"Ma'am, there's nothing I can do."
"Don't call me ma'am! The court can push a magic button and suspend my license but they can't push one to reinstate it?"
"I don't have the authority. The court administrator is in charge of this."
"Let me speak to him then!"
"She's on vacation until the 21st. You can clear it up then."
"Of course she's on vacation! So I have to either wait around without a license for a week and a half or take a day off work, sit at the DMV all day, and cough up $100!"
"There's nothing I can do."
"Who can I talk to to complain about this?"
"The court administrator."
"Of course! I want her name and number, she will be hearing from me."
So she gives me the name and number, with a great deal of attitude. So before I hang up, I say to her, "This is friggin rediculous! Honey, someone is going to pay for my time and money." Click.
So now I'm seething. Not a good scenario. But wait...there's more! You know what I have to do to get my license back? First, I have to go to the court and pay the ticket. Guess who collects the money? Uh huh...yup. This should be interesting. Considering this is really all my husband's fault...I called him and told him the deal. He is taking half a day to drive me around for all this shit. Plus, there is no way he is letting me see this woman in person alone. The police department is in the same building...I will get arrested for assault. At least I'll have company at the DMV this time.
Now, if I can get home without getting pulled over...that would be something. But I know my luck. It's 11 now...I'm leaving in about 45 minutes. I plan to let you all know how the rest of the day goes...so if I don't post later today, it means I'm either in jail for punching out a clerk, or for driving without a license. Cross your fingers for me...not that it will do any good.
posted by Meghan at 11:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home