Trouble Staying in Compliance

It's hard to stay out of trouble. In Norman recently I was parked near the campus to do some shopping. I put plenty of coins in the meter but when I returned to my car I found a $50 ticket on the windshield! I still had plenty of time left on the meter so what could this be about? Turns out my license plate was a few days expired and Normans' crack(ed) police had spotted it.

Since Oklahoma's Bureau of Keeping License Plates Up-to-date does not send out reminders or invoices anymore it's up to the driver to periodically look at ones' license plate or remember to go to the tag office to renew the license. This may be easy for some people but not for me. If I have more than two things to remember I can be certain of forgetting at least one of them. The sheer number of things one must do these days to "stay in compliance" is overwhelming. If you also have to go about earning a living this compliance thing is quite a distraction.

We forgetful citizens can depend however, on money-hungry jurisdictions like Norman, Oklahoma to find the wood in our eye and take a cut. The county I live in forgives such a fine if one gets the renewal within a week but not the City of Norman. When I called to inquire one of Norman's crack "administrative technicians" gave no ground and added a touch of cold disdain for good measure. I could hear her thinking "we don't need your kind in our city".

Next time, I'll go shopping in Stillwater.