Down With OPP

I spend the evening in Orchard Park Town Court last night to pay a fine for getting caught speeding on the 219 a few months back. Three hours later I received a slap on the wrist, a warning and a 150 dollar fine. Hey, sure beats points on my licenses and a day in driving school.

All and all it was a long time sitting around and talking to my long lost contractor (who I haven't seen in 3 years or so), so it wasn't all bad. But I notice some interesting things while in OP....

Top 10 Things I Observed in OP Town Court:

1. Guy wearing a "Keep Kids Off Drugs- Amherst Police" tee- was he ironic or just kissing up?
2. No air conditioning. That goodness it wasn't August!
   
3. Only caucasians appear to live in OP (or only the white people speed in their cars and get caught- all the other races must be smarter...?).
4. A lot of people speed on the 219. Maybe it's because the speed limit changes from 65 to 55 right in the middle without any warning (Hey, I didn't see the sign.... but it really is a mute point, since I was going 80 in a 55!).
5. Late night hockey (triple overtime) leaves a town clerk sleepy.
6. Speeding in OP makes a lot of money for the town.
7. The average parking ticket in OP is going to net you a fine of ninety-freakin-dollars! My advice is to not park illegally in OP.
8. Stalking is popular in OP.
9. Dressing appropriately for court apparently means wearing shorts and t-shirts. I was over dressed in a suit (maybe that's why my fine was the max!)
   
10. All the 16-year old criminals (non-traffic violations: drugs, stalking, stupidity, etc.) are slouchy and wear black-- all of them. You know they say that the bad guys always wear black.

Two other highlights I'd like to add:

> When I got the $150 parking ticket (everyone else was getting $90 tiks) I swore I heard a gasp in the crowd- or maybe that was just me gasping!

>The 16 year old goth kid that protested when the judge rescheduled him for a Thursday in August. He was upset he would miss Thursday in the Square. Wha?