the facets: To Bribe or Not to Bribe

Monday, March 22, 2010

To Bribe or Not to Bribe – Is the question!

The other day while I was driving back home from work, I was deeply engrossed with the thoughts of the next days activities. Before I could realize, I jumped a signal in one of the city's busiest location. I was cordially greeted by the friendly traffic constable (Who isn't friendly and warm and nice at the sight of a victim ;)) and was invited to pull over.
He wore a neat smile on his face and informed me of the following violations:

Signal Jump – Rs. 100 - Which I was ready to pay, since I was aware that I did that and rightfully had to pay the penalty.
Dangerous Driving – Rs. 300 - I was like WTF? This was something I was sure I wasn't doing.

I later figured that slapping the 2nd fine was to scare me and tempt me into offering him a bribe. I am usually against offering bribe and I promptly pay the penalty whenever I violate a traffic rule which is very very rare though. But in this case, the 2nd penalty was unnecessary and there seemed no way I could convince the traffic constable who kept insisting with a big stupid smile on his face. I initially gave him Rs. 100 which I thought I was rightfully entitled to pay, and thought it didn't matter much if it went as a bribe. But he never ceased bargaining. After arguing for a while I pulled out another Rs. 50 and gave it to him, which didn't make much impression on him either.
My consciousness had almost taken over me which made me tell him that I was ready to pay the total penalty of Rs. 400 with receipt, when the constable backed off. He simply put the Rs. 150 in his pocket, and as is customary to all the traffic cops, he advised me not violate rules like these henceforth. To that I just nodded and drove away, cursing myself for jumping the signal in the first place and offering him a bribe against my consciousness.
Reflecting back on the situation, I figured that I wouldn't have been able to avoid the guilt either ways, whether I paid the penalty for something I didn't do (and be a looser), or offering a bribe (and being street smart). Both were equally qualified to pump enough guilt. I know I have done an immoral act and admit it. But if you ask me what would I do the next time I am faced with a similar situation; I can't really say. May be a good fight might just really help.