How much?!?!?!?

As of right now Meckleburg County government, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the Mecklenburg County Transportation Department call all kiss my butt.

I live in a quiet neighborhood on a street that people use as a cut through. Since about half a percent of all drivers ignore speed limits in neighborhoods the county put in a bunch of stop signs to slow these knuckleheads down and that then inconveniences the adults that know not to go 45 through a residential area. I have got in the habit of rolling through these signs because they are there only to slow traffic down and I don't speed through my neighborhood.

Of course, back in August, the Charlotte Police set up in our neighborhood to monitor traffic going through the stop signs. Not even bothering to sit somewhere where they might see how fast someone is going before they get to the useless stop sign. No, they are setting up at the bottom of the hill just to catch those that are not stopping at the bleeding stop signs. They are using the stop signs now just to meet their monthly quoting of tickets. This reminds me of what law enforcement started doing when the Patriot Act was passed by our spineless congress. As soon as the Patriot Act became law local law enforcement started to examine the Patriot Act in order to find ways in which they could further infringe on our rights or, if you are a conservative, protect patriotic Americans from evil doers.

So today I drive downtown to pay what I thought was a ridiculous charge of $121. I was told by the jerkface cop that gave me the ticket for driving through the superfluous stop sign that if I paid the ticket before my court date I would only have to pay the $121 court costs. I get to the Clerk of the Court cashier window and the drone sitting in on the other side of the counter informs me that the charge would be $171. I almost had a stroke. I told the lady that the officer informed that if I paid before the court date it would only be $121. She waved over one of her coworkers and he confirmed it. He essentially said that the cop was wrong. $171 and I can't drive more than a quarter mile in this town without hitting a pot hole? There was a steady line at that cashier's window where in the hell is all this money going? Probably going to Bob Johnson so he can start another cable network.

I still can't believe how much money the county has the gall to charge me. Sure, I ran a stop sign and $50 is a legitimate fine but do they have to tack on $121 court costs when I didn't even have to go to court? And another thing, that criminal court building is the ugliest piece of crap in the city. It looks like someone carved a bunch of windows and doors on a bar of soap. It cost us $148 million dollars. Now I see why they raped me with court costs this morning.