It was you, Mommy !
One female colleague was having a quiet sunday night at home with her husband and her two little boys. The boys were playing with their toy cars, imitating car chase, playing cop and robber. The younger played the robber.
Eventually the robber got caught by the cop. But refused to cooperate.
"Hey, you're caught already. You can't move your car !" said the older.
"Who cares," said the robber brother," You're just a policeman. I can always pay you off...!"
Our colleague overheard that. Thinking that bribing is not a skill she wants her children to have, she interfered:
"Adik! Why did you say that? That's bad. Bad, bad, bad ! Who taught you that?"
And the answer made her jaw dropped:
"You did, Mommy..."
It was the day before. The whole family was in a car, going to visit a relative. The husband drove. He made a wrong turn and then got pulled over by a policeman.
Yes, you know the drill:
The police asked the husband to step out and walk away from the car. A deal was offered: Either pay some cash, or the husband will be given a violation ticket (in case you don't know, when you get a violation ticket, the police will take away your driver license. You then must go to some court - not sure about this - and pay the fine to get the license back. A process that can take days. -But don't quote us on this. We never actually experienced it. Wink, wink. )
The husband, being an idealist and somewhat annoyed by the cocky policeman, refused to pay the bribe and opt for the ticket.
When he went back to the car, our colleague was furious:
"What? You are already so busy as it is, you don't even have enough time for the kids, and now you want to spend your time queueing at some office just to pay a stupid fine?
Why can't you just give him the money?"
Irritated, she grabbed the ticket, and went to find the policeman. Two minutes later, she was back with her husband's driver license.
"Just be practical next time, will you honey?"
Meanwhile, their kids, in the backseat, sitting, listening, watching.
Absorbing everything.
Eventually the robber got caught by the cop. But refused to cooperate.
"Hey, you're caught already. You can't move your car !" said the older.
"Who cares," said the robber brother," You're just a policeman. I can always pay you off...!"
Our colleague overheard that. Thinking that bribing is not a skill she wants her children to have, she interfered:
"Adik! Why did you say that? That's bad. Bad, bad, bad ! Who taught you that?"
And the answer made her jaw dropped:
"You did, Mommy..."
It was the day before. The whole family was in a car, going to visit a relative. The husband drove. He made a wrong turn and then got pulled over by a policeman.
Yes, you know the drill:
The police asked the husband to step out and walk away from the car. A deal was offered: Either pay some cash, or the husband will be given a violation ticket (in case you don't know, when you get a violation ticket, the police will take away your driver license. You then must go to some court - not sure about this - and pay the fine to get the license back. A process that can take days. -But don't quote us on this. We never actually experienced it. Wink, wink. )
The husband, being an idealist and somewhat annoyed by the cocky policeman, refused to pay the bribe and opt for the ticket.
When he went back to the car, our colleague was furious:
"What? You are already so busy as it is, you don't even have enough time for the kids, and now you want to spend your time queueing at some office just to pay a stupid fine?
Why can't you just give him the money?"
Irritated, she grabbed the ticket, and went to find the policeman. Two minutes later, she was back with her husband's driver license.
"Just be practical next time, will you honey?"
Meanwhile, their kids, in the backseat, sitting, listening, watching.
Absorbing everything.
posted by Indonesia Anonymus | 9:58 AM
7 Comments:
good point! this is why the bribery never stops. it starts at home and at young age. no wonder..
one word: OUCH!
a very good lesson for us all. the adults teach the youths and vice versa.
I agree that bribing is a no no. But, spending hours to pay traffic fine is, well, stupid.
Kids need to learn this subtle difference ;)
Don't the police robe you,
don't let yourself bribe the police
Yeah... that's Indonesia. hihihi... Just try to obey the rules... and you never gonna stopped by the police.
Hi
Good article. Its no wonder that corruption is so difficult to erradicate here - its ingrained into the kids from the time they can talk. Maybe the official system of how to pay the traffic tickets can be changed - make it easier for people to pay their tickets and there will be less incentive to bribe the police. With all the banks here surely it can't be too difficult to adopt a pay-at-the-bank sort of system.
Peter
Kerobokan Bali
Agree with Peter.
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