Illiteracy can Kill you
Jan. 8th, 2004 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pluralso
I just had one of those
stomach sinking to the middle of the earth moments
you know those ones where you go
"oh fuck me"
cause nothing else comes quick close enough
I just got off the phone with my dear mother
A few years back, I was arrested while travelling
with my mother and girlfriend at the time on an outstanding warrant
a warrant issued because an attorney of mine had forgotten
to dot his i's and cross his t's
serves me right for going outside the family for legal counsel
but I sort of wanted to keep the situation quiet
my mother was kind enough to post my bail
and I went to court the following week
and resolved the matter entirely
anyway mother informs me that
she received a letter from the bond company
saying that the bond was forfiet
and requesting the sum of $150,000.00
[one hundred and fifty thousand dollars]
I am not sure if you can imagine
what exactly this feels like
as for most people such a letter
would be trying to squeeze blood from a rock
but for the next two minutes
my brain was scrambling
trying to make some sense of it all
I force myself to calm down
analyze the facts that I have
make the picture fit
and it hits me
my bail could not have been more than 10 grand total
it was a misdeamenor failure to comply charge
there is no way the bond could have been 150k
so there is no way I could owe that amount
so dear mother trudges up to her office
and digs through her paperwork to find the letter
starts off gravely reading me the letterhead
so that I have the contact information
by which to talk to them
then she informs me that she is just going to read me
the entire letter so that I hear it all
with some impending sense of doom
I agree and she begins
I wont bore you with the specifics
but its one of those standardize form letters
on such and such a date such and such was performed
by such and such yada yada
two glaring differences between her account of the letter
and the words she is now reading over the telephone to me
the first and most obvious is the amount
$1500.00 not $150,000.00
few extra zeros anyone?
next it is not demanding payment
but saying that without an exoneration form
it can not release the collateral provided
but at that point I was like yeah yeah whatever
fifteen hundred bucks would sting
but 150k would wound deeply
it would mean me abandoning school
moving back to the states and getting a real job again
atleast for a few years
that isnt the kind of financial hit
that I can just walk off
anyways thats all
just scared the crap out of me
and my heart is still beating a lil fast
I just had one of those
stomach sinking to the middle of the earth moments
you know those ones where you go
"oh fuck me"
cause nothing else comes quick close enough
I just got off the phone with my dear mother
A few years back, I was arrested while travelling
with my mother and girlfriend at the time on an outstanding warrant
a warrant issued because an attorney of mine had forgotten
to dot his i's and cross his t's
serves me right for going outside the family for legal counsel
but I sort of wanted to keep the situation quiet
my mother was kind enough to post my bail
and I went to court the following week
and resolved the matter entirely
anyway mother informs me that
she received a letter from the bond company
saying that the bond was forfiet
and requesting the sum of $150,000.00
[one hundred and fifty thousand dollars]
I am not sure if you can imagine
what exactly this feels like
as for most people such a letter
would be trying to squeeze blood from a rock
but for the next two minutes
my brain was scrambling
trying to make some sense of it all
I force myself to calm down
analyze the facts that I have
make the picture fit
and it hits me
my bail could not have been more than 10 grand total
it was a misdeamenor failure to comply charge
there is no way the bond could have been 150k
so there is no way I could owe that amount
so dear mother trudges up to her office
and digs through her paperwork to find the letter
starts off gravely reading me the letterhead
so that I have the contact information
by which to talk to them
then she informs me that she is just going to read me
the entire letter so that I hear it all
with some impending sense of doom
I agree and she begins
I wont bore you with the specifics
but its one of those standardize form letters
on such and such a date such and such was performed
by such and such yada yada
two glaring differences between her account of the letter
and the words she is now reading over the telephone to me
the first and most obvious is the amount
$1500.00 not $150,000.00
few extra zeros anyone?
next it is not demanding payment
but saying that without an exoneration form
it can not release the collateral provided
but at that point I was like yeah yeah whatever
fifteen hundred bucks would sting
but 150k would wound deeply
it would mean me abandoning school
moving back to the states and getting a real job again
atleast for a few years
that isnt the kind of financial hit
that I can just walk off
anyways thats all
just scared the crap out of me
and my heart is still beating a lil fast
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 11:49 pm (UTC)you offering dear one?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 08:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 08:39 pm (UTC)Glad the decimal point wasn't where you were initially told. Pesky decimal points...
no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 10:35 pm (UTC)That's a rough one.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-08 10:54 pm (UTC)I breathe a sigh of relief on your behalf.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 03:34 am (UTC)few extra zeros anyone?
heh.
not if you ignore decimal points and think of anything less than a buck not worth your notice...
I could see it actually.
So are they going to cut a check for the collateral?
What would that be, exactly, 100?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 01:17 pm (UTC)I was just wondering about size of the collateral. My understanding was 10% of the bail was needed to secure a bond. I was guessing that the collateral was $150 (I miss typed), and the bail was $1500.
What in the world did you DO to get bail set at 150K?
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 03:49 pm (UTC)*grin*
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 03:51 pm (UTC)do check your math
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 04:35 pm (UTC)1500*10=15000.00
or $1.5M
That's what I said...
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 05:00 pm (UTC)is ten percent of fifteen thousand dollars
not one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
my bail was set at 15 grand
hence collateral was 1.5 grand
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 05:20 pm (UTC)that 'or $1.5M ' business was my attempt at humor... it was the same mistake your mothermade
no subject
Date: 2004-01-09 05:26 pm (UTC)no worries mate
even I have been known
to make an error
on one occasion
but dont let it happen again
*wink*