I'm Dangerous and I Must Be Punished

Apparently I did something this morning that was so dangerous, so risky and so detrimental to society I must pay the government $139.75 to be punished for my behavior.

What did I do that was so dangerous I need to surrender $139.75 of my (not so) hard earned money? Well, if you look at the list of risky behaviors that deserve such punishment, I obviously must have done something pretty bad.

I could have:

Been driving 30 miles per hour above the posted speed limit.
Passed a stopped school bus.
Been speeding in a school zone.
Failed to comply with financial responsibility (I think this means driving without insurance.)

But I wasn't doing any of those heinous deeds. What dangerous maneuver did I attempt to get away with?

After stopping at a red light, I made a right turn.

I admit it! I'm guilty. Yes, there was a sign posted that said "Right Turn On Green Arrow" and I ignored this instruction and turned on a red arrow. I'm not even sure I would have attempted such a risky move if the driver in front of me hadn't done the exact same thing and I was worried I was holding up traffic. I wasn't in any particular hurry, I was only going to work for pete's sake.

I indicated to the officer that the sign did not say "Right Turn On Green Arrow ONLY," nor was there a sign that said "No Turn On Red" and that is rather confusing, but he disagreed with my logic and said "It means the same thing."

It's no wonder people hate cops. If you even question their authority or their judgement in any way they get very defensive. And it seems like most of the time their entire existence is a waste of resources. Like everyone else, I see people do hundreds of things every day that are dangerous and irresponsible, yet the police seem to be occupied with unimportant minutiae that doesn't help anyone in any possible way.

Maybe I'm completely wrong, and there has been dozens and dozens of accidents at that intersection where people have attempted to turn onto that on-ramp. But I doubt it. Based on the logistics, I doubt there have been any, and if there were the drivers must have been retarded.

So I can take a day off work someday in January and contest this ticket in court and probably lose, or even worse get sentenced to traffic court, wasting another of my days. I have to decide if one of my ten days off per year is worth sacrificing to fight this injustice, or just pay the fucking fine and get on with my life.

I think we all know what's going to happen.