What a weekend! My friend Alba (third from the right) came to visit Prague with 4 of her friends. They are studying German in Berlin, but are students at the University of Barcelona. It was refreshing to hang out with students again. It reminded me of what it was like to be in college—being semi-naïve to the "real world," willing to meet anyone and everyone, and being as adventurous as possible on a tight budget. It's amazing how much you can do with so little money. I remember having that sense of, "What have I got to lose? I'm invincible." :) Ok, I admit, maybe I still feel that way today.
The answer to the question, "What have I got to lose?" came on Saturday and was in the amount of 25 bucks. We weren't so invincible when we had our run-in with the Czech police.
I met the Spaniards at their youth hostel and we were recommended to take the tram into the old city center. My new Spanish friends supposedly had some sort of student ticket they thought would be valid on the tram. I was naïve and figured I could just hop on and pay when I got on the tram, or even just get by without paying since it was a relatively short ride. Damn, was I wrong!
When we were about to get off, these two 40 year old guys wearing plain clothes came over to us and flashed some silly looking ring at us. Initially, we thought they were trying to sell us something, but they then said, "Your tickets, please."
I'm thinking, "Ok, I'll just pay for my ticket now."
When they all showed their student tickets and I said I didn't have one, they said, "500 koruna [25 dollars]. Each of you."
"Whaaaaaaat? No way!" We all figured they were kidding. My friend's "tickets" apparently were no good and they wanted to charge us a fine for just hopping on. Our first reaction was that they were phonies--trying to take innocent tourists' money. These guys look like chumps! At least they could have been dressed in a uniform or something!
I was calm and just asked, "Can we just pay the regular price? We are just tourists and we didn't know any better. We are not trying to cheat you."
"You can pay 500 each. [While pointing at each of us] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of you…3,000 total."
"Come on. We are just poor students!"
This went on for awhile. They wouldn't let us off where we wanted, but they eventually had us get off when they saw two cops near a stop. Neither my new friends nor I had that much cash. They're all poor students, and I've had so many cash expenditures while working here, I literally had zero left in my checking account. So, going to the ATM was NOT an option.
The cops sucked. They barely said anything, but they took our ID's (It seems to be the only thing cops do, but I won't get into that discussion now). By now Alba was furious cause she was positive they were just taking advantage of us, WHICH THEY WERE.
After about 10 minutes, the cops confirmed, "Yes. 3,000 koruna. Or, we take you to jail." Other than that they said nothing. It was so aggravating cause I wanted someone ELSE to validate the fine, but everyone around us was acting like nothing was happening--completely ignoring the 6 random tourists trying to negotiate in broken English.
We felt like we were getting screwed over, so I eventually called the hotel and told the front desk our situation. Unfortunately, they confirmed that it WAS legitimate and that this fine is the penalty when you board a tram without paying.
Fine. We've already wasted an hour. I just want to forget about this. I'll pay. There's no point in drawing this out any longer. I called my buddy, Nausher, and told him the mess we had gotten into. Like a savior, he took a taxi to where we were and brought 3,000 koruna. We paid and just like that we were free to go.
Damn. At the end of the day none of us were really angry about the amount of the fine--25 dollars wasn't going to break anyone's bank--it was the fact that they weren't understanding at all. I know they're just doing their job, but it sucked being so vulnerable…such easy targets. My only consolation is that those two chumps' jobs must suck, and I hope every honest tourist they fine gives them as much hell as possible. And seriously, aren't there bigger fish to fry? Aren't there more serious crimes being committed? Bah.
Needless to say, we soon forgot and got drunk off of beer and tequila shots. Alba and her friends would try to pay me back today, but that's another story in itself!
Random thoughts:
1. I realize that story doesn't compare to the time I was in Greece, "Is BIG, no?" but I don't think anything will ever top that.
2. Drunken McFlurries are still as delicious as I remember.
3. Maybe something is lost in the translation, but for a city full of tourists, Czech waiters are typically NOT very friendly.
4. I'm getting excited to go home for a weekend. I hope it doesn't totally tire me out.
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The Understanding Cop
A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Red Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he floored it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing
through what little hair he had left. "Amazing!" he thought as he flew down I-95, pushing the pedal to the metal even more. Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw the highway patrol behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring.
"I can get away from him. No problem!" Thought the elderly gent as he floored it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120 mph. Suddenly, he thought, "What on earth am I doing? I'm too old for this nonsense!"
He then pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the Trooper to catch up. Pulling in behind him, the Trooper walked up to the driver's side of the Corvette, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason why you were speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go." The man, looking very seriously at the Trooper, said, "Years ago, my wife ran off with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back."
"Have a good day, Sir," said the Trooper.
Random thoughts:
1. Outside of family circle and school, in the "dogs eat dogs" world, people are less inclined to be understanding and forgiving.
2. look at the event from the point of view of the Czech police who probably will never have a chance to leave their country. They have little reasons to cut those "rich" American any slack.
3. Once you found that the plain-cloths were no fake, it was smart for you to pay and settle asap. There is an old Taiwanese saying "Loosing money is alright as long as you are ok." Or an American adage "Cut your loss while you can!"
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