Speedtrap: Wacks and Whispers

Yesterday, while driving back from out of town, I was pulled over by the police at a speed trap. However, I knew the speed limit (60 km/hr) and was obeying it. One of the two officers (police are always paired up) dressed in light blue approached the car. He looked Pakistani to me; tall, healthy (my term for well-fed), brown, and with a mustache.

He greeted me in an official kind of way, "Salam uAleikum."

I responded in French, as I often do, to remind him that I am a foreigner. He demanded my car papers, which he looked over. I was about to ask what the problem was, because I really didn't know.

However, he spoke, "You were speeding, 68 km/hour."

I responded, "No, I know the speed limit. It's 60. I was going 60."

"No, you were going 68," he insisted.

I said,"I know the signs, at the bridge it's 60, then after it's 80, then it's 60 here."

"You go around and check the signs again." he replied.

"OK," and I turned around and repeated the route, then pulling to the side of the road again.
I got out of the car and repeated myself. "Yes, those are the signs, I know the speed limit and I was going 60. I saw the signs."

The officer had his partner, a shorter, lighter, wirey guy, with a pointed nose, come over so the two of them were arguing with me, insisting that I was speeding. Then the tall one pulled another car over so he left.
The short one said, "You have to pay 400 dirhams [US $50]. Do you have 400 dirhams?" He pulled out his paper pad and pen.

I stood my ground, insisting on my innocence. They kept insisting that I was wrong. After 10 minutes of back and forth, I got irritated. I asked to see the officer's identity card. This irritated him so he complained to the dark one that I hadn't admitted my guilt and was being difficult. The tall one shouted at me in Arabic. I ignored him and pretended not to understand. They pulled over another car, so the dark one was moving away, distracted.

While they weren't looking, I quickly peeked in my wallet to see if I had 400 dirhams. I only had 300.

"Forget it. Just let him go." the dark one called back to his partner.

"What about 100 dirhams?" the skinny one asked.

"Nah, forget it. Let him go."

Somewhat relieved, I got back in the car and drove off.
Both officers were occupied with another vehicle.


Reflecting on that experience, I realized that I had lost my cool. I was mad at those officers for pushing injustice on me. Later in the day, I shared my frustration with a sympathetic friend.


Today, I consciously spent some time being quiet. I read this morning:

After the earthquake came a fire . . . And after the fire came a gentle whisper. -- 1 Kings 19:12

In order to grow in grace, we must spend a great deal of time in quiet solitude. Contact with others in society is not what causes the soul to grow most vigorously. In fact, one quiet hour of prayer will often yield greater results than many days spent in the company of others. It is in the desert that the dew is freshest and the air is the most pure.

-- Andrew Bonar, from Streams in the Desert, by L. B. Cowan.