[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by valuemkt

most of us have seen once or a thousand times the famous Baseball skit of Abbott and Costello (who's on first ?) .. I endured a random traffic stop Saturday while returning from Spanish Springs and traveling south on Buena Vista north of 466. Asked for my license, registration and insurance, I provided the first two without incident, and, a victim of my messy glove box, found my last six years insurance card, but not the one that took effect on 4/11/18. MY bad .. Giving the officer the admitted expired one, I indicated that I had the same insurance company for x years, and surely if they did a lookup would find it was current. During the 15 minute wait I found the current insurance.. When he returned, he indicated that I was being given a citation, and it was too late for him to rip up the citation. That's the set-up to the skit.

He kindly told me that to clear this citation (it was NOT a ticket), I just needed to go to the Public Safety Building - where the firehouse is- on Morse Blvd, show them the card, and pay a ten dollar fine.

Simple enough., I thanked him, and continued my journey home.

So today, Tuesday, I embarked upon the simple task of clearing this citation.

A friendly lady responded to the buzzer in the lobby of said building, and I explained why i was there and could she nicely take care of this for me. She responded with a cheerful .. oh my, we don;t handle things like this here, you need to go to one of the Sunter Country government buildings .. you have a choice of two around here,,One, at the intersection of 466A and powell road - a nice new building in back fot he walgreens, and the other,over the bridge on morse at the intersection of 466.

Given that 466A and powell was more convenient for me, I trekked over there, confident that I would rapidly take care of this. I entered into what appeared to be a modernized version of a DMV and was again greeted by a very cheerful woman, who upon hearing my story gave me a number and asked me to sit and watch the screen or my number to appear. a short ten minutes later my number appeared and confidently I went to station 16 to pay my fine.

Upon hearing my story, the woman sypathetically told me I was again in the wrong place, that I needed to go to the Clerk of the Courts to pay my fine. And I had two options taht she could think of .. drive to Bushnell, where ever that might be (she indicated 20 miles or so down the road apiece), or the aforementioned Morse Blvd and Rt 466 location.. probably ten miles in a more convenient direction,. She looked up and printed out directions, as by this time my yearn for adventure was over.

Upon entering the building and being guided to said Clerk by a very accommodating gentleman, the clerk assured me that I had come to the right place. Confidently once again, I handed her my citation and proof of insurance, She looked up at me and said .. SORRY this incident ha NOT made it into our system - there's nothing I can do for you today.

She told me I had two options. One was to come back in a few days .. when it SHOULD be in the system .. The second was to mail a copy of my citation, proof of insurance and a MONEY ORDER to the Clerk of the Courts in BUSHNELL FL. I chose Door number 2 again, and she very nicely made a copy of both and even gave me an official looking envelope addressed to Bushnell FL.

I again mentioned that the sheriff had directed me to the wrong building to start this journey, and since they occupied the same building as she did, do they ever communicate issues like this to prevent confusion - the response was .. we talk to the lieutenant all the time, but that rarely does any good.

She then gave me admonishment ONE - if you mail that in, I still advise you call me with your citation number a few days later to make sure the mail got there and they processed it. You know how the mail is these days ..

I smiled and thanked her and as I walked away, she said in a louder voice - with admonishment 2. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE OF THIS WITHIN 30 DAYS ! To Which I replied, in a louder voice - I Tried to take care of it in 2 days .. and left

So, all the government workers from police officers to public safety to DMV to Clerk of Court goes home thinking they did their job just fine ., two plus hours later the fine isnt paid, a trip to the bank for a money order is necessary etc.

The moral of the story - Clean your friggin glove compartment out.

That sounds typical of government bureaucracy. Once in a while you will find a County or other employee that will help you jump rope over it. Especially if that person knows the ropes.