I’ve written before about my tragic Canadianness, but I am literally the poster child for politeness now. At work, we’ve got a new Be Nice to People policy to communicate to employees, and I happened to be at my desk when my colleague decided to coordinate a photo for the Be Courteous poster. So there I am, opening a door for another employee with a cheesy (but polite) smile plastered on my face. I believe my royalty cheque is in the mail.
This weekend, I took a quick trip to Kelowna and achieved another milestone in my life as a driver: I got my first traffic ticket. It’s for something that not only am I quite certain I didn’t do, but that I didn’t even know was an infraction (Disobey Yellow Light at Intersection – he meant those flashing orange lights warning you the upcoming traffic lights are about to change, not even the yellow traffic light itself).
When the RCMP officer handed me the $167 ticket, I thanked him. Then I laughed at myself. Then I was baffled.
I’m going to dispute the ticket, appealing to the fact that I don’t believe I did the deed, neither does my passenger, I’m a nice polite driver who’s never had a ticket before, based on the volume of people being pulled over I suspect they might have been a little overzealous, and I’m really sorry officer for doubting your word and thanks for your time.
Disputing just seems so … discourteous. How will I live with seeing myself on those posters now? Good thing Avoid Gossip is coming soon to take their place. I can do that. I’ve got no dish on the Kelowna RCMP.
Post the poster!
Oh god, I can’t – I try to be a little circumpsect about where I work, plus … embarrassing! But just for you, I’ll post a small taste of my starring role.
Arguing the ticket is going to boil down to whether the court believes you or the cop, and it’ll be the cop. Unless the officer doesn’t show, all you’ll end up with for your principled stand is a waste of time and money.
I’ve got friends who have done it successfully – usually because the cops doesn’t show up. It’s a waste of time if it doesn’t work, but I’d rather that than be out $167 for something I don’t think I did. I’m not holding my breath, though.
Stick it to The Man, Diane. Power to the People!
Thanks for the taste…(I didn’t really think you would..lol)
I can’t resist a direct order or a dare. I think that’s how I got myself into starting the Canadian TV site …
Yes, but: what? Canadians needing to be reminded to be polite & courteous to one another? This is a sad day indeed for national stereotypes. Does this mean Canada is set to produce a generation of pushy, me-first Canadians? Surely not – I mean, if the world needed large numbers of those, we could just clone Stephen Harper over and over, couldn’t we? (On second thoughts, scratch that – wouldn’t want to give anyone any ideas.)
Ha, well, the polite Canadian thing has always been a stereotype – one I make fun of because there’s some truth to it, of course. But I dare you to show me the large workplace that doesn’t have issues with harrassment and disrespect, in Canada or anywhere else. We’re not just talking to the younger generation, either – some of the issues are actually more prevalent in older generations.