Corruption
Scene 1: I am in an office rented by several consultants. They rent out their space to other consultants or people who want the use of a computer and internet and I get used to people coming and going. On a certain morning when three men arrived I didn’t think much of it. Two of the consultants I am working with, partners in the consultancy firm, were called away to speak with them. Eventually, overheard bits of the conversation started to intrigue me. “No, we already signed a contract”, said one consultant. I turned to look at the three men and once I took them in, I noticed their demeanor was quite different from others who had come and gone. They were standing in a way to block the door, looking … big. The smallest said “You seem to have a kitchen here … I don’t think that is in the contract”. “Listen the contract was signed and sent to your office. We don’t need to pay anymore money.” Afterwards I wondered if it was the building people wanting more money …. No, I discovered, it was the municipal authorities attempting to extract a bribe.
Scene 2: On my way home after a very long day, it is 8:00 at night. I ask the cab driver to stop for a phone card and water. He forgets and drives right to my hotel. I remind him and we drive away from the hotel, down the road, but the little kiosks along the road are dark, closed. I have a sinking feeling that somehow I’m not going to get right back to my hotel. We go to a gas station, closed. We drive to another. I buy what I want. On the way back, we are stopped by a policeman. He flashed his light in the back seat and I sit there smiling, thinking he is looking for guns or something. He tells me to get out. I wonder “what the heck?’. Out I get and he says. “Don’t you know that not wearing a seatbelt is an offense?” I almost laugh at his gravity, barking at me for a mere seatbelt. “Oh, I didn’t know”, I said (I do remember being told but didn’t take if very seriously, and have not seen seatbelts much in use). “I could send you to court”, he says. Still not taking him seriously I think I have to play the game one does at home with policemen who stop you for going over the speed limit or not making a complete stop at a stop sign: to seem very contrite and the police officer will feel he has done his duty, enhanced his feeling of power and will possibly let you go without a fine. So I do this. To my surprise, the officer ups the ante. I can hardly believe it when he says that I have now to go to the police station and receive a summons to court on Wednesday. “Oh, please don’t”, I say, suddenly feeling a little desperate, “I must be at work, and they need me”. He asks what I do and I explain. He keeps repeating things like “can you sheph me sheph you?”, “How can I fughive you?” I don’t know what he is saying and keep asking him to repeat himself. I have to bend down a bit because he is smaller than I (I am 5 feet 2). I say “now I know and I promise I will always wear my seat belt. I really didn’t know it was a law”. Finally he does let me go and with great relief I get in the car. I put on my seat belt as we drive away. “Why do they take seat belts so seriously here?”, I ask, truly mystified that in such a crime-ridden city a police officer would be bothering with such trifles. “He was waiting for a bribe”, says the cab driver. That’s why he kept saying “How can I forgive you? And “Can you help me to help you?”