42 THE REAL COST
42 THE REAL COST
So you break the law and keep on doing it, so what?
You could get away with it for some time until you don’t think about it anymore; then you get caught.
First of all, you’re sitting on the side of the road where all your friends and neighbours can see you sitting in front of the police car with his lights flashing. You will be there for some time while he checks your driver’s licence and plates to see if they are clear of any past offences. Then he has to write your ticket and get you to sign for it. This should take about 20 minutes if all goes well and he finds no problems.
Next, it will cost you the out of pocket cash to pay the ticket. Next, you will get a letter in the mail about your offence and the points that you lost because of it. It will take you a year or more to work those points off to a clear licence again.
In the meantime, your neighbours are spreading the news about your being caught by the police for breaking the law and you are no longer a law biding citizen of the community. Your honesty and character come into question and are tarnished.
You are more nervous and are quick to slam on the brakes when you see a patrol car on the side of the road. You are much more aware of the fact that you are a lawbreaker and try hard not to get caught again.
Unless you stop braking the law, you will probably get caught again and go through all this again but with much more publicity and loss of character.
You see, the money is not the real deterrent here, but the loss of character; if one does not realize that then maybe there is very little character left to worry about losing.
