Austin, TX

About 3 months ago, I got a speeding ticket. Yeah, not my best day. It was maybe the third ticket I’ve ever received which is not bad for someone who has been driving for 24 years. I was driving the new Honda Fit and it’s so quiet that I didn’t even realize that I was speeding. I was going 15 mph over the speed limit.

Of course I opted to take the defensive driving class to keep the ticket off my record. Of course I procrastinated until the last minute to take said course. With 90 days to take the class, I took it on day 88. I should get a crown marked “Queen of Procrastination”.

The problem with waiting until the 88th day to take your class is that the certificate for class completion takes more than 2 days. I could have paid an extra $25 to have the certificate fed-exed overnight but a woman in the class told me that hers came in two days so pushed my luck. Luck was not a lady and my certificate did not arrive on time which meant that I spent my afternoon at the Municipal Courthouse downtown begging the judge for an extension.

Getting the extension was surprisingly easy. The hardest part was finding a parking place on 7th. Inside, I dutifully put my belongings in a tray to be x-rayed, stepped through the metal detector and up to the information counter. Everyone has to stop at the information counter, it’s where you receive your waiting number. You explain to the clerk why you are there and they assign you to a queue based on that information. There is a large reader board on either side of the waiting room with three sets of numbers going at all times. Numbers are called out in both English and Spanish. My wait was surprisingly short, perhaps 10 minutes at the most. I explained to the clerk that I needed an extension and why and she told me I would have to see the judge. One printout and a short walk around the corner and I was in a small courtroom where they took my printout and told me to take a seat. There were about 10 people ahead of me. There was white noise in the room but I was fairly close so I could hear a little bit of what was being said as each person stood before the Judge.

It was really quite interesting to listen in as the Judge dealt with each case. One woman was there for the same reason I was and I was relieved to see how easily she got her date extended. Occasionally someone would have to make a plea or pay a fine. The Judge would ask if they were working and if so she’d give them a payment plan, usually $50 a month. Occasionally the person would be unemployed and she’d assign them community work instead. Usually at 20 hours a month. For some reason it made me happy to know that they took peoples financial situations into account. When my turn came the judge granted me my extension and it was all over and done with in a matter of minutes.

Hopefully there is not a next time but if there is, I don’t think I’ll be procrastinating again. Tomorrow I’ll post a review of the defensive driving class I took last Sunday at Funny Bones. Until then, don’t forget about all the great Christmas Bazaars starting this week!