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Smile...You're on Candid Camera!
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The other day, Steve called me from work and said, "Guess what honey?" With Steve, that can mean any number of things. "Guess what honey, I won a big poker tournament last night!" "Guess what honey, I'm playing golf after work." Or my personal favorite, "Guess what honey, we're moving to Germany!" So I never know what to expect when he calls. This particular call was to inform me that he got a speeding ticket in the mail. Of course I wasn't surprised.
Those of you who know Steve are well aware that he likes to drive fast. And when he can't drive fast, he gets very upset. OK let's be honest, he gets downright mad. The road rage kicks in and everyone on the road better get out of his way! So when we first got here and he met "The Autobahn" it was all over. Every chance he got, the pedal was to the floor and I actually felt bad for the poor car he was driving. No matter how hard it tried, it just couldn't keep up!
The few times that I actually rode in the car with Steve, I had to hold on for dear life. At times we were traveling 110 mph and we were going so fast that I couldn't see the colors of the cars we were passing by. Gripping the door with white knuckles I remember asking him, "Are sure there is no speed limit on the Autobahn?" He laughed and said, "No, why? Do you want me to slow down?" I replied, "Only if you don't want me to throw up!"
Several times while we were traveling on the Autobahn, I noticed postings over the highway with numbers on them (most of them said 100). I asked him what those numbers meant. He said, "Oh, those are the "recommended" speed limits but they really don't enforce them". He went on to say that police cars are rarely seen on the highway pulling people over so it must not be that big of deal. Clearly he was mistaken.
Two weeks after I paid Steve's first speeding ticket, he called me from work again. "Guess what honey?" Oh no, what this time? He proceeded to tell me that he got ANOTHER speeding ticket. This one he got on our way to Amsterdam. Ironically enough, he got both speeding tickets on the same day...the first one in Germany and the second one in the Netherlands. As he fumed about what a bunch of crap it was and how it wasn't fair, I had all I could do to keep from laughing.
So you're probably wondering how Steve got two tickets without ever being pulled over. Well, in Germany (and obviously in the Netherlands as well), they have cameras set up on the highways. If you are speeding, they take a picture of your license plate and you get a ticket in the mail. You really have no idea where you were speeding...just the country you were in and how fast you were going.
In Steve's defense, it really isn't fair because if you're keeping up with traffic or if you're passing someone and have to speed up, you'll get a ticket and not even know about it. What is even more unjust about this method of highway patrol is the fact that it takes them so long to issue a fine. Both speeding tickets that Steve received were for violations that happened in December. It took two months for us to get them in the mail. That being said, we can only imagine how many more tickets could be on the way!
Since Steve can no longer speed on the Autobahn, he now takes his frustrations out on his X-Box instead. I can always tell when he's had a bad "traffic" day because he'll come home and yell at his racing game until he feels better! Whenever we drive on the Autobahn now, we always wonder who's watching? For all we know, there's a little guy behind the camera with a big grin on his face saying to himself, "Smile...You're on Candid Camera!"
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