...while driving from Be'er Sheva to my home. In Israel, police cars' lights are always flashing while they drive around. Why? I have no idea. People I've asked say it's because of their huge egos. Anyway, when they want to pull you over, they come up beside you and use their police car's speaker to tell you to stop.
Just a note, before I continue, that in Israel, you can say things you would never say in the U.S. You can ask someone what his salary is and tell him it's too low and he won't think twice about it. It's also possible to get into a very heated argument with someone and then receive a dinner invitation from him the next day. So people are very emotionally demonstrative and take what others say in stride. There are few surprises.
So, to continue, the other odd thing is that the officers stay in their car the entire time they have someone pulled over. I had seen this before, driver's hunched over police cars' passenger windows, speaking with officers inside, seemingly negotiating a lesser fine. Although I knew this, I quickly decided to play the ignorant American card. I pretended like I didn't know much Hebrew and stayed in my seat with my hands on the wheel.
The cop motioned with his hand and said, first in Hebrew, then in English, "Come." So I exited my vehicle and stood out in the blazing son. He was already writing so it seemed hopeless to think he'd let me slide with just a warning. He asked for my driver's license and I handed it to him. I first gave him my Pennsylvania license and feigned surprise when he handed it back to me, asking for the Israeli one. He instructed me to sit in his car.
I asked him what I had done because I truly did not know. "You don't know?" he asked.
"No," I replied.
"You were going 108km/h in a 90km/h zone."
"That is not correct," I said.
"No? What were you going?"
"Eighty," I retorted.
"No," he said, while pointing to his gun.
"When is the last time you checked that?" I asked.
"Last week," he said.
"Last week?"
"Uh, no, this morning," he corrected himself.
"So was it last week or this morning?" I inquired.
"This morning," he repeated.
The upshot was that I received a NIS 250 (about $70) fine with no points. I stepped out of the car after he finished writing. I told him that I had a lot of trouble reading his handwriting.
I was angry because I was quite sure I had really only been traveling at 80. I had been looking at his left hand while seated next to him because his pinky fingernail was much longer than all of his other fingernails. So I asked him why he had allowed that fingernail to grow two inches long. He said "Stam," which roughly means, in that context, "no reason."
I asked, "It's not to pick your nose?"
"No," he replied. "Why?"
"That's what I heard," I said.
I then told him that I would see him in court because I planned to fight the ticket. He corrected the mistake I made in Hebrew with the verb so I asked him if he was married.
"Yes," he said.
"And your wife puts up with that crazy finger?" I asked.
...
So that's my story. Not so exciting but it's a bit different from what would transpire in the States. Sometimes, while visiting the U.S., I'm fearful that I could forget where I was and get myself in a lot of trouble for speaking like that.
Anyone else have stories to tell about being pulled over? (Or is Batutta going to post a link to a thread on this topic from 2004?
I saw the closed thread on drunk driving.)
Just a note, before I continue, that in Israel, you can say things you would never say in the U.S. You can ask someone what his salary is and tell him it's too low and he won't think twice about it. It's also possible to get into a very heated argument with someone and then receive a dinner invitation from him the next day. So people are very emotionally demonstrative and take what others say in stride. There are few surprises.
So, to continue, the other odd thing is that the officers stay in their car the entire time they have someone pulled over. I had seen this before, driver's hunched over police cars' passenger windows, speaking with officers inside, seemingly negotiating a lesser fine. Although I knew this, I quickly decided to play the ignorant American card. I pretended like I didn't know much Hebrew and stayed in my seat with my hands on the wheel.
The cop motioned with his hand and said, first in Hebrew, then in English, "Come." So I exited my vehicle and stood out in the blazing son. He was already writing so it seemed hopeless to think he'd let me slide with just a warning. He asked for my driver's license and I handed it to him. I first gave him my Pennsylvania license and feigned surprise when he handed it back to me, asking for the Israeli one. He instructed me to sit in his car.
I asked him what I had done because I truly did not know. "You don't know?" he asked.
"No," I replied.
"You were going 108km/h in a 90km/h zone."
"That is not correct," I said.
"No? What were you going?"
"Eighty," I retorted.
"No," he said, while pointing to his gun.
"When is the last time you checked that?" I asked.
"Last week," he said.
"Last week?"
"Uh, no, this morning," he corrected himself.
"So was it last week or this morning?" I inquired.
"This morning," he repeated.
The upshot was that I received a NIS 250 (about $70) fine with no points. I stepped out of the car after he finished writing. I told him that I had a lot of trouble reading his handwriting.
I was angry because I was quite sure I had really only been traveling at 80. I had been looking at his left hand while seated next to him because his pinky fingernail was much longer than all of his other fingernails. So I asked him why he had allowed that fingernail to grow two inches long. He said "Stam," which roughly means, in that context, "no reason."
I asked, "It's not to pick your nose?"
"No," he replied. "Why?"
"That's what I heard," I said.
I then told him that I would see him in court because I planned to fight the ticket. He corrected the mistake I made in Hebrew with the verb so I asked him if he was married.
"Yes," he said.
"And your wife puts up with that crazy finger?" I asked.
...
So that's my story. Not so exciting but it's a bit different from what would transpire in the States. Sometimes, while visiting the U.S., I'm fearful that I could forget where I was and get myself in a lot of trouble for speaking like that.
Anyone else have stories to tell about being pulled over? (Or is Batutta going to post a link to a thread on this topic from 2004?
I saw the closed thread on drunk driving.)
