Which is what we "xenophobes" call it - an occupation.
That's what it is. They call it that, basically, in Mexico. La Reconquista. The Reconquest. Of the land we supposedly stole from them about 160 years ago.
So, back in early Januaray I got a ticket for turning on a red light. It was a sting by police in the South Bay of San Diego. The sign prohibiting it was microscopic, postage stamp size. The cops had four cars pulled over in front of me.
(As the state, the counties, and the cities get increasingly broke, the number of tickets the uniformed tax collectors (police of various govt agencies) hand out grows apace, with strict enforcement of chickensh-t traffic laws. In Califorrnia, the fine for a no-seatbelt-offense is a ridiculous $90)
Court appearance in late April. I"m out of town for a week (or two) before and a week after that date.
So,as ticket was issued in the South Bay (bordering Mexico) I call the number there that's on the ticket, to get the fine amount and pay it with a credit card.
Phone is answered by a machine, in both English and Spanish. (Engish first, but that will change witht time.) Same message keeps repeating.
10 minutes, same message. No one answers.
20 minutes, 30. At 35 I curse and hang up.
Next day, today, I call when they offiicially open, 8:30 AM.
This time it's only a ten minute wait.
Guy who answers has a heavy Spanish accent. Almost all the govt workers in the South Bay are now of Mexican descent. This applies to many communities in the "American" Southwest.
"I called to get the amount of my fine," I say. No answer. Nothing for a few minutes. Nada. I';m shouting into the phone.
I assume the guy heard the English and decided to let the pinche gringo stew in his own juices.
Mexicans of the better class, who of course are still in Mexico, tell me we are getting the worst of their country, the criminals and the losers.
Ok, I figure I'll call back, and when he or one of his paisanos answer the phone, I'll say: Quiero pagar la multa. Wanna pay the fine.
But no answer again after 15 minutes.
As the occupation grows, and becomes permanent and pandemic, the inefficiency (just like in Mexico, compadre) will also grow. So too will the kind of massive, top-to-bottom corruption that has characterized Mexico since it's birth.
There are other courts, other numbers, on the ticket. I'm thinking I should call one of them.
I call the central office in Clairmont. About 20 minutes north of South Bay - San Diego, blocked on the south by Mexico and one the west by the ocean, sprawls in the other two directions.
After a long phone message - at least in English - as to how one can pay varous fines, including the obscene ones given anonymously by cameras at traffic lighs, someone answers the phone.
Speaker has good English, but I have a good ear. I can tell here first language was Spanish.
But she's polite. Tells me that the ticket, given almost 3 months prior, has not yet been filed! "Call back in a week," she says. [groan]
Almost all the govt jobs in California's larger cities have been filled by La Raza, those of Mexican descent. A govt job, just like in Mexico, is akin to winning the lottery.
And so, this galloping inefficiency did not surprise me. It will also not surprise me, five or ten years from now, that one of these lottery winners will tell me that while the offiical fine is $250 (which is about what I will have to pay for this crap ticket), if I came in and paid them in person they could give me a discount of $100. And eliminate the ticket from the system so I won't get any "points."
Hola, viva La Raza!
That's what it is. They call it that, basically, in Mexico. La Reconquista. The Reconquest. Of the land we supposedly stole from them about 160 years ago.
So, back in early Januaray I got a ticket for turning on a red light. It was a sting by police in the South Bay of San Diego. The sign prohibiting it was microscopic, postage stamp size. The cops had four cars pulled over in front of me.
(As the state, the counties, and the cities get increasingly broke, the number of tickets the uniformed tax collectors (police of various govt agencies) hand out grows apace, with strict enforcement of chickensh-t traffic laws. In Califorrnia, the fine for a no-seatbelt-offense is a ridiculous $90)
Court appearance in late April. I"m out of town for a week (or two) before and a week after that date.
So,as ticket was issued in the South Bay (bordering Mexico) I call the number there that's on the ticket, to get the fine amount and pay it with a credit card.
Phone is answered by a machine, in both English and Spanish. (Engish first, but that will change witht time.) Same message keeps repeating.
10 minutes, same message. No one answers.
20 minutes, 30. At 35 I curse and hang up.
Next day, today, I call when they offiicially open, 8:30 AM.
This time it's only a ten minute wait.
Guy who answers has a heavy Spanish accent. Almost all the govt workers in the South Bay are now of Mexican descent. This applies to many communities in the "American" Southwest.
"I called to get the amount of my fine," I say. No answer. Nothing for a few minutes. Nada. I';m shouting into the phone.
I assume the guy heard the English and decided to let the pinche gringo stew in his own juices.
Mexicans of the better class, who of course are still in Mexico, tell me we are getting the worst of their country, the criminals and the losers.
Ok, I figure I'll call back, and when he or one of his paisanos answer the phone, I'll say: Quiero pagar la multa. Wanna pay the fine.
But no answer again after 15 minutes.
As the occupation grows, and becomes permanent and pandemic, the inefficiency (just like in Mexico, compadre) will also grow. So too will the kind of massive, top-to-bottom corruption that has characterized Mexico since it's birth.
There are other courts, other numbers, on the ticket. I'm thinking I should call one of them.
I call the central office in Clairmont. About 20 minutes north of South Bay - San Diego, blocked on the south by Mexico and one the west by the ocean, sprawls in the other two directions.
After a long phone message - at least in English - as to how one can pay varous fines, including the obscene ones given anonymously by cameras at traffic lighs, someone answers the phone.
Speaker has good English, but I have a good ear. I can tell here first language was Spanish.
But she's polite. Tells me that the ticket, given almost 3 months prior, has not yet been filed! "Call back in a week," she says. [groan]
Almost all the govt jobs in California's larger cities have been filled by La Raza, those of Mexican descent. A govt job, just like in Mexico, is akin to winning the lottery.
And so, this galloping inefficiency did not surprise me. It will also not surprise me, five or ten years from now, that one of these lottery winners will tell me that while the offiical fine is $250 (which is about what I will have to pay for this crap ticket), if I came in and paid them in person they could give me a discount of $100. And eliminate the ticket from the system so I won't get any "points."
Hola, viva La Raza!
