If I were a rich man…
Yesterday we were leaving the gym and we noticed a man in a full suit stepping out of his Mercedes and running into the tanning salon with tanning lotion in hand. Problem? He had parked his car in a fire lane! Ryan was so incensed that he called police non-emergency and the police department was more than happy to send someone out to give the nice rich man a big fat ticket.
On our way home Ryan told me that he thinks a fire lane ticket is something like $500. (Small price to pay considering the fact that if there was an actual fire, the fire department wouldn’t hesitate in ramming the cute little Mercedes with the fire engine) $500 seems like a lot of money to me. But would $500 be a good lesson to a man who obviously believed he should be afforded special privileges due to obvious wealth? Probably not. He would pay the $500 without flinching and maybe curse the police for wasting his precious tanning time.
So if I were to jump into politics, I think I might suggest a reform to the way fines are assessed for minor violations. I think we should come up with some sort of formula that takes into account the severity of the offense, the total holdings of the guilty party, and the annual earned income of the guilty party. I bet Mr. Mercedes would think twice and maybe park 15 feet to the West in an actual parking spot.
