I was in a hurry today and forgot that I didn’t have enough cash for my commute. Actually, I realized this before driving off, but dismissed the thought. Pretty sure there was only one toll booth on the way to this place anyways.
Of course, there were two booths. I took my line on the second booth and edged on anxiously. Now, it’s not like this hasn’t happened before. A waiter had had to give me money just so I can round up my bill. Parking officers had given me a sad look and told me to drive on, a parking supervisor kindly assured me, “don’t worry about it”. But I’ve never been stuck in a toll booth with no money.
The lady at the booth couldn’t believe it either. The supervisor she summoned asked me what I have in my outstretched hand. “It’s a roll of change,” I said, struggling to keep calm, “but it’s not enough.”
“So you have no more money.”
“I have a debit card. And some Indian money.” He raised his eyebrow, which I took as a good sign. I showed him the Rupees. “And it’s worth more than enough!”
He hesitated, then toughed up. “We can’t do that. We’ll have to keep your ID. How soon can you come back to settle this?”
Trembling, I feebly replied, “2.30.”
“Hm. That’s the second shift. You’ll need to meet another officer as I won’t be here. Here’s my name” – he pointed to his lapel – “and please note my number. Since you’ll be coming from the other side, you’ll need to park and cross over to this side and find the officer. Good day.”
“But where would I park in a toll booth, and who is -“
“I said good day.” He left.
Robbed of my courage and my ID, I drove on and did my meeting. On the way back, I parked between booths and proceeded to cross about seven lanes of vehicles, all eager to enter the highway, none of whom are expecting to see someone crossing their path. And no one should. Only idiots like me do.
There was a threat to find the responsible officer at their headquarter, but that was another 7 lanes away and my car is dangerously parked between two toll booths. If a truck drove through one of them, it’ll hit my mirror for sure. I put on an almost-crying face, found the officer, paid my fee, took my ID and left. Still trembling.
I must say I quite appreciate the professionalism of those officers, and the fact that I didn’t have to pay a cent more than the actual toll fee was not lost on me. On surface it seemed way too big a hassle to confiscate people’s private documents just for a meager fee, but now that the issue has been settled, I’m glad it happened. Got quite a story for Rp 9000.
Tika Anindya 