ethoughts weekly- Issue 176

August 26, 2007

Fiction Fact

Recently, my husband got a ticket for running a red light in the little neighboring town of Pottsville. A police officer was driving behind him the whole time to boot. He doesn’t recall the light in particular, so he might have run it. It’s sort of an odd mistake to make under a watchful eye, but who knows, maybe it happened. One hundred dollars also makes it an expensive mistake. Now, I do think if he truly ran the light, he should pay the ticket. The trouble in this case is the Pottsville police officer, probably in an effort to bolster he case, in a “his word against mine” court scenario, put down information out of his imagination.

Under the ticket details he wrote, “Light was red for 2.3 seconds.” Now, I’m sure he was just trying to look like he was doing a great job protecting his little town from crazy driving hoodlums like my husband, who was coming back to work after having blood drawn to monitor his medical condition. What he didn’t realize is that simple deductive logic would unravel his bit of dimwitted fiction. I figured out, for him to know Tim ran the light for concrete measurement of 2.3 seconds, he would have to possess incredible psychic abilities. He would have to see the light change to red, click on a stopwatch, or measuring device, knowing into the future that my husband intended to run the light. Either we have a man nearby of unfathomable supernatural powers, who decided to lay low writing tickets for the city of Pottsville, or we have a guy trying to make sure a fine gets paid, even if it means lying.

Tim paid the fine, and got three points on his license. I think fear, and the hassle of going to court stopped him from trying to buck a less-than-honorable man, and system. I would have gone in there, pled “no contest”, and told them I definitely didn’t want the points on my license, and asked that the fine be dropped on the grounds that police shouldn’t be allowed to be creative with the details they are claiming to be facts. While they might do it, at least when we catch them, it’d be nice to drop the whole thing, and call it even. When the simplest thread of logic can find the depicted facts transparently false on something this minor, I shudder to think what else they will make up.

It’s very easy to take advantage if you perceive you have the upper hand. To me, only good character, not a badge, separates the good guys from the bad guys. I remember playing cops and robbers as a kid. We picked sides arbitrarily. It seems that never really changes. We can all be bad guys, or we can choose to be good guys. Will we tweak the information because we think we can? Will we let stuff slide because no one will know, or find out? Do we look the other way, when we have the power to put a stop to what isn’t right? If no one holds us accountable, we still have to be honorable. I believe we will have to answer for all of that shady stuff one day. God is never mocked, as if he doesn’t know the truth. He is the Truth. But the immediate effects of dishonesty happen now. Our interior goodness is dulled like knife cutting into rock. We aren’t aware of all the damage, but our senses lose their edge, and before we can know it well enough, we make choices that effect our reputations, our day-to-day lives, and maybe even the lives of our children. The true joy that can be had by living a righteous life is sucked away, and replace but a gnawing sense that something just isn't right. I could be talking directly to you right now.

If this 2.3 second incident can save someone like you, reading this $100 worth of trouble, I guess the ticket paid for itself. I wish the good guys were really good guys, but it feels more like a crapshoot, based character, hormones, or when a shift gets done. That's life I guess. We can only be responsible for ourselves. Let your goodness be evident, and don’t think you aren’t accountable. You are. The truth matters.

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Lisa DeLay

©2007