I have a problem with people in authority. There: I SAID IT!

I think most people here share this with me or we wouldn't all be here. When I see the people in government on TV (in those rare moments when I watch TV, because we don't have TV) I cringe at their attempts to make it look like they actually care. Every now and then there is a politician that actually manages to do this believable. But most of the time: Nope... nothing.

Whenever there is police on the road, or worse: a check-point for some reason (usually motor tax in this country), I get nervous, even if I have all my paper work in order. It could just be one or two cops on the road, not intimidating at all and yet I feel like it is this:

However, lately I don't have all my paper work in order...

Hassle with the car

My NCT certificate (National Car Testing Service) has run out since July 2017. Not that I've been trying to avoid it. No, not at all. I think safety on the road is first and foremost, especially if you're driving around with a bunch of kids. In my case, I had the first test done on time last year. It failed. Hugely. So I had this fixed by my trusted mechanic at my old address. Something needed to be welded. Now, I am not sure what happened, because he always delivers great work, but this time he didn't. It needed to be welded all the way around and he only did a spot weld. So another fail. I still owed him nearly two thirds of the money it cost, so luckily I didn't have to pay for this twice.
I had to find another mechanic near my new place and he had to do the whole damn thing again. And then some. Because of course, there was stuff added to the list of things that needed to be fixed.
Three times I went to get the car tested and three times it failed on something else.
Those test centers are a big scam though. 55 euro for a full test and 22.50 for a re-test! Re-tests usually take about 10 minutes or so. Easy money. So all in all they already banked around 200 Euro just for my car. And the money I spent on getting the damn thing fixed? If I would have been able to save it, I would have been able to drive a younger car. Not my old barrel.

Police check

At the end of May, I got stopped by the police, or Gardaí as they call them here.
The man was wondering about my NCT cert. I explained the situation and he gave me 10 days to show a valid NCT cert.
Luckily I had booked the test for the week after that, so that should have been fine.
The test should have been a GO.
But NO! It wasn't. The mechanic fixed my handbrake. The test guy pulled the brake and the fucking cable broke!
So now I needed to get that done, but of course, it would never be within those 10 days.
In panic, I went to the police station to tell them the story and the man was friendly enough to grant me the time until the re-test as the issue was minor.

But meanwhile, I had also run out of motor tax. And no way of paying it until July.
So these things add up.

My insurance

I am always on top of paying my car insurance. I am never late. However, if you don't have a valid NCT cert. you're basically not insured. So it's something that just needs to get done now. The car is going to the mechanic on Monday and on Wednesday is the re-test. So if it all goes as planned, I can finally go into the police station on Wednesday and show them my valid cert. And make a new appointment for a new test as it will need a new test done for the next year by the end of this month...Might as well get it over with. At least there won't be much work. If any at all.

Shock and horror

Yesterday it was another hot day here in Ireland. We've had temperatures of over 30 degrees Celcius for the last couple of weeks (the hottest summer since 47 years I heard today). Because it can go back to rain for weeks, I decided our family spent enough time at home the last year. So almost every day we've either been going to the beach or the lake. This time, we had been at the lake.

On our way back, I realized that we needed to get some groceries but because it was too late to make it to the shop near our place, I decided to drive into the nearest town, Castlebar, which is about 10 miles.
We quickly got our shopping done and I treated the kids to ice-cream.
As we left the town and got onto the high-way, to my shock and horror, I saw blue flashlights on the road in front of me, on both sides. Police. My first thought was that there had been an accident, but a split second later I realized this was not the case. It was a check-point!

My heart started beating faster and sweat was building on the palms of my hands. No test, no tax, and practically no insurance! One or two out of three is usually not an issue here, but three out of three can mean court and a huge fine. If you're lucky.
As my heart was pounding, I asked my daughter to get my phone and wallet out of my bag. In my head I started to prepare my excuse. I could show him the date for the re-test on my phone and would tell him that I'd pay the taxes too next week.
We stopped the car and a young, friendly cop greeted us and asked how we were doing. Sweaty and with my heartbeat now at full speed, I told him 'fine, thank you' and prepared for my speech.
He walked around the car to see the tags.
Tax: ran out end of May. NCT ran out end of July. There was no way he could miss that. From the corner of my eye I saw another car that had been pulled to the side, with three young men, talking to a police officer. They looked like they had been drinking...

source: www.imgflip.com

The good cop?

Meanwhile the young cop came back to my car window, had a quick look at the kids in the car and said: 'OK then.'
I was ready to give him my excuse. And I was sure he meant to pull into the side of the road. So I stared at him in disbelief, not really sure what he meant. I said: 'Excuse me?'
He looked at my son in the back of the car, who was covered in chocolate, winked and answered: 'You can go. Have a good night.' I thanked him and off we went! I wasn't going to question him. But I couldn't believe it!
My daughter said: 'That was a nice man.' And I replied: 'Yes indeed, he is a very nice man.'

Photo source: pixabay.com

Now, I am not sure what happened there. Maybe he didn't feel like doing extra paper work. Maybe he didn't want to burden his colleague with yet another 'no tax, no NCT' case when in reality they needed their time to catch those who had been driving under the influence. Maybe he looked at the kids and thought: This woman has enough going on as it is. I don't know. But either way, this man gave me the break that I so desperately needed. And it made me re-think everything I thought before. You know when you hear people say: "they're just doing their job." I cringe when I hear that.
I hate it with a passion. Because even though they are just doing their job, I always think they either should have chosen a different profession or stop doing their job sometimes.
And this guy was NOT doing his job. At least, not with me. And I am very grateful for that because it could have caused a lot of issues if he had. So there you go: there are still good people in the police force. My hope for them has been restored. If for some reason, this guy ever reads this. Very unlikely, but then again, you never know:

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You've shown me that even in crazy times like these, where people with authority seem to abuse their powers left, right and center, there are still those people who are human and have a heart. Don't change - stay the way you are.