Not the 'Fine-all' Event

Not the ‘Fine-all’ Event
October 7, 2009
Written by: Krystal Brown



All events aren’t filled with concession stands and loud music. As a matter of fact, there are some events that don’t involve entertainment at all. Paying a city fine was very eventful for me.
On Tuesday, October 7, 2009, I walked adjacent to the cobble stones that
cover Greenville’s Main Street. At the last red light, on the right side of the road, there it sits. The place where no one wants to be...the City Clerks office, my destination. Quite naturally I arrived there with high hopes and a purse full of cash.
Now before I can reveal the remainder of the event, let me brief you on how I wound up having dealings with this place. About a year ago, I was on my way to the park with my three children. It was meant to be a typical ‘load em’ up, buckle em’ in’ car ride. However, it didn’t work out that way. Some drunken fellow decided that it was okay to block my drive way with his car. Well his bad decision making lead to an accident. I rolled into his mid-street parked vehicle at the speed of four miles per hour. Being the good citizen that I am, I reported it to the Greenville Police Department. Believe it or not, I’m still paying for that accident.
Now that you have the reason behind my visit to the Clerk’s office, let me complete the actions of the event. Mrs. Lee, the clerk, informed me that I had an outstanding fine of $280.00. So I paid it. And though I wish that was the end of the ordeal, it’s not.
All of my high hopes of finally being done with this silly mishap went down the stairs and into the corridor, after Mrs. Lee, a.k.a. the collector, told me that my problems weren’t over. She informed me that I needed to be processed at the Police Station, and that I had incurred an addition fine of $395.00!
I just dropped my head and told her that I was ready for the walk of shame. Down the stairs and out the building, I found myself walking side by side with the clerk. Again adjacent to the cobble stoned street. We entered the Police Station and headed through the double doors. These aren’t any double doors. These doors are like the difference between freedom and lock down. It was a scary thing.
At the back of the precinct, Mrs. Lee filled out some papers. And before I knew it, I was told to stand against the wall and stare at the camera. Let me tell you, I wasn’t the least bit worried about my hair being in place for this mug shot. In fact, I believe that my subconscious mind took over, and a look of pity replaced my smile.
Before it was over, I filled out a couple of papers. I even asked questions like how long do I have to pay off the second fine, and what is a warrant. But the most important of any of my questions was, am I free to go home. That was the only thing I wanted to know by the end of this event.