But then...
As we were driving home we got pulled over by a transito cop. Yup. Apparently they decided to enforce the old "passing in a double yellow line zone" law today. And that really is funny in CR since only about 1/10th of the roads actually have any lines at all. But anyway, I got pulled over and expected a small ticket and on our way. Nope. Not anymore. Apparently the police in paradise now think it is appropriate to suspend your drivers license for 6 months for passing in a no passing zone. Yup. That's right - they take your license right then and there. (as an aside, I happen to be using my CO drivers license right now seeing as how my CR license has already expired..oops)
Now, being a good self respecting USofA citizen...we just don't sit around in situations like this and take it up the shorts. So I got out of the car and went over to the transito cop's car to have a little side conversation. Apparently if your Spanish suddenly gets a lot better (yeah - usually faking bad spanish gets you off quicker) and you start saying things like "But I am returning to the states and I need my CO licenese" or more importantly "If I paid you the fine right here in cash could I leave with my CO license?" they will magically let you proceed as if the little known law never existed. Ahhh, the sounds of paradise (can't you just hear the cha-ching of the pretty birds and cute little tree frogs?).
The moral of the story...it's a good thing we are leaving CR. It used to only hypothetically cost ~$40 to bribe a cop...now it takes hypothetically about $100! And that my friends is the REAL cost of the recession....fewer tourists means the tourism "tax" gets disproportionately placed onto the few remaining (hey - kind of sounds like the US tax system huh...but that's a whole different kind of fleecing for another day...)
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