Super-Duper Wacky n' Tacky Euro Adventure

Well, with a title like that, one would assume that I was talking about Russia, but no. I think the first real experience I've come across with corruption just occured in Paris.

So Tim, Andrew, and I two lovely Italian ladies had just up a club in the bastille area at around 2:30 AM when we all decided to call it a night. It had been a lovely evening that included even Canadian jazz.(!) So we set Andrew on his way on a night bus that leaves him off by the Arc de Triomph where he lives. The girls were okay, since they lived around the Bastille they could just walk. Tim and I live about equidistant from the Tour Montparnasse which is the tallest building in Paris (and second talles in the Europe). So we found a night bus that would leave us there. Tim was well versed in how to cheat the system, so he feigned punching in a used ticket on his way in. I got out a fresh ticket from a carnet that I had just purchased a couple of days earlier and punched it into the machine. Hey, I'm a straight shooter. So Tim and I are sleepily enjoying our ride when these "undercover" transit people come on the bus and start flashing their badges and demanding tickets. I knew Tim was in trouble, but that I was prepared, so I thought. When I confidently flashed my ticket to the "man" he told me there was nothing on it. Crap, I didn't punch it in right. So there we were, both royally screwed, trying to find some way to get out of the (expensive) situation. We were talking with the guy for at least ten minutes. I even proposed that I would punch two new tickets. No deal. I was getting frustrated, but Tim persisted. Finally, when we told the guy that our stop was coming up, he leaned in close, so that the other ticket officers couldn't hear what he was saying. I think he said something like he empathized with our situation and was willing to let us go with one violation for two people, making the fee only 35 euro for both of us. He knew we had nowhere near 70 for both of us and we didn't bring any ATM cards, which he was gladly willing to do. But no, this guy found a situation where we were let off the hook but he still got the violators at the same time. Sneaky fellow.

Anyway, I was telling Tim how I never gave in to petty corruption in Russia, but I'm mad I had to do it here. But I see it this way: I should have been on that bus legally, so really, I just helped Tim pay his fee. There, that makes me feel a little bit better. Sort of. Stan will remember how this is not the first time I have been actually screwed over by the Paris transport cops. Damn.