Monday 28 September 2009

sunday

what a day.this post is most likely going to be quite hard to keep track of.after a late start to the day(mikee had been at work sound engineering at a gig and not arrived home until 3am)mikee decided we should take a trip to tenby.i wasn't against this,but i also thought it was a hell of a drive considering we wouldn't get there until after 3pm.i was worried about leaving the dogs for so long in the flat too.everything just seemed a little...off.have you ever had that feeling?that things aren't quite right?anyway,i could tell that mikee had his heart set on taking us there,so off we went.we arrived in tenby around 3.30pm,with mikee joking that a police car was tailing us.well,i assumed he was joking,as he didn't seem too bothered.we drove into tenby and went to drive into the nearest carpark.this is when we were stopped by a policeman.now i have never been in a car pulled over by a policeman,and i could not believe what was happening.mikee was asked to pull over to the side,which he obviously did.and we both just sat there,shocked and wondering what on earth was happening.we both knew we were road legal.the car was taxed,insured and mikee had a legal driving licence on him.he wasn't speeding and there seemed to be no reason for a policeman to pull us over.so the police officer walked back over and told us he had stopped us as we had no valid car insurance.we were shocked.as i told the policeman,we had paid our monthly installment of £44 just a matter of days ago.he asked if we had cancelled or stopped our payments,which we answered no.we even pointed out to him that we would not have been able to renew our tax disc without valid insurance papers.he wasn't having any of it.now most people would tell you that it is often the case that the police give you 7 days to present your documents to a local police station.i asked the policeman if this was correct.he basically said yes...but no.(it was very hard to understand where fair justice and law came into this).the policeman informed us that he was seizing our car for having no insurance on us.mikee had told him he did not carry the documents in the car should the car ever get broken into.this meant nothing to the officer and mikee was asked to go and sit in the police car and sign the paperwork.i just sat there full of anger and tears streaming down my face.anger because yet again,it seems the more law abiding you are,the more mistreated you are by the law and government.i can only assume that we were tailed in the first place because of our "different" appearance?because our car is very run-of-the-mill and mikee is a brilliant driver.the car my dad had given to us,that i am due to take over once i pass my test...well,the police were impounding it (ie.taking it from us and having it towed even further away to pembroke dock)and basically telling us we were lying.when we knew full well that our documents were safely tucked away at home.you could say,well why didn't you have them with me?most people believe that you have 7 days to present your documents,so it's not just us.and besides,the police man even told mikee that it wouldn't have made a difference as we were coming up on the system as uninsured.you could say the policeman was doing his job.i have to disagree there.he could have easily said,take it home,find your documents and go immediately to the local police station and show them.but his course of action meant that we were left in tenby with not much money to our name,and i did not even have a jacket with me.the policemans answer to us telling him about the dire situation we were in trying to get home if he took our car?
"that's not my problem"
so basically,the man then came to tow away our car,which made me even more distraught and upset.mikee and i walked away,so angry and so disappointed in our country's police force.mikee even told the policeman "this is why so many people hate the police.because the honest working class get treated like this,while real criminals are out on the streets,getting away with it".i don't blame mikee.i am so proud of him keeping his cool,especially as i know his hatred for the police.and i have to agree with him.it'd be nice to believe the police were on our side.but adding what happended yesterday to my list of experiences with the police (though limited,as i am a law abiding young lady!),i have to say,i really hate the police and the way they conduct themselves.but that's a huge subject to get into.and to be honest after the last couple of days,i don't have the energy!
in the end we basically got home just after midnight.it took us around 8 hours to get home in total.the dogs were left in the dark with no food and only a little water,as we did not intend to be out so long.it felt so good to get home and see them.it had been a truly shit afternoon.i have to say though,mikee kept me together.i was so angry and upset,and mikee handled the situation(and me!)like a pro,calm and collected.i think i probably fell in love with him all over again!

today has been hectic too,though not physically so.it has turned out to be the insurance company's fault completely.someone had fucked up at their end,and thankfully we are 100% blameless!but it is all very complicated and they are trying to shift the blame anywhere but to themselves.meanwhile our car is in some lonely carpark in pembroke,racking up £25 a day(as well as the £150 impoundment fee).apparently we will not have to pay any of this.but nothing surprises me,and i won't hold my breath on that one.and if that is the case we don't have the money (times like this i wish i earned a hell of a lot more!)to go and get our car.and it s simply not our fault.i have to watch i don't get angry again.

i was due to start up my driving lessons tonight with my new instructor.i have postponed this simply because my brain feels fried,wow,it really does!luckily don (the new instructor) seemed sympathetic and we have rescheduled for wednesday.i hate having to cancel things,and i'm already a little nervous about restarting my lessons(it's weird,i know i'm nearly two thirds of the way through,but this month off and change of teachers makes me feel like i'm starting all over again!)but i know i would have had a hard time concentrating tonight.

oh yeah,and yesterday was meant to be our 2 year anniversary afternoon out.bleh.

3 comments:

  1. Ah no ways babes, that is awful...i am so upset after reading your story!
    My thoughts are with you...xoxo

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  2. Lame! Yeah, the sucky cops sure make them all look bad. Case in point we recently had an incident in Oakland where a cop shot a kid in the back while he was lying on the ground in handcuffs. WTF? But then I try to put it into perspective and think for every horrible and lame cop out there, there are like 10 who are out there trying to help people and don't harass ordinary people. I remember getting pulled over because I didn't fully stop at a stop sigh, because it was like 4am and no body was on the roads. Still I was in the wrong and a cop pulled me over. He was actually very friendly and just gave me a warning and let me go. That stuff doesn't take away from what happened to you of course but at least it might make you think "hey, maybe this cop is just an asshole and probably goes home and kicks his dog."

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  3. That's horrible. Your insurance company should give you a major discount for putting you through that.

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