The Summons

Haha.. to my Caterpillarbuku club members, THIS is not a review of the John Grisham book. I'm still not that senile to confuse my blogs yet. And NO, this is not about a judge summoning me up for a reprimanding or something, more like the story of my samans (in plural, mind you!!).

I first got my driving license in my second year at USM, back in the year 2000. Well, it might be a little late for some people who jump up at the chance to get their license after completing SPM, but during that period, I was busy taking care of my siblings since my parents were doing their haj. In fact, I took my license secretly that not many people knew. Haha, call me a coward, I was afraid if I didn't pass the first time and that everyone might know. Even my housemates only knew after Mama called Yun to ask how my driving test went, when Yun didn't even know I was going for my test on that day but Alhamdulillah, I did pass.

Anyway, I practiced driving everytime I went back to Penang but once I got into my final year, I stopped. Thus, I grew afraid of driving though at first I was so perak that even going to the kedai runcit, I just had to drive.

When I started working as a research officer, I still didn't feel the need to drive yet since I could still stay in the hostel but after a year, we were sort of forced to get out of the hostel and rent some place else. When this happened, the majority of us knew one thing for sure: We needed transportation!

Thus, started my lesson of driving, all over again. Since I already knew that Abah and my uncle arranged for me to buy an automatic car (my uncle was afraid that I'd never remember the gear shifts AND about my low confidence on the road), I practiced road confidence using kak Ana's car where everyday we'd drive around till I was confident enough on the road and of my steering control.

The day I got my car, I was in Lengong with Lili, Hasni, Medoff and Amir regarding the MIMOL project. Dari mula lagi, Amir and Medoff kept persuading me to drive (all of them knew I was waiting for my car) but I refused since I wasn't THAT confident yet. But then, who would have expected them to play a trick on me. When going for the Jumaat prayers, Medoff parked the car right in the middle of the road and handed the keys to me. Amir then said,"Kak Ayu buat la apa yang kak Ayu suka dengan keter ni" and to add insult, they laughed and hurried into the masjid before I could call out to them.

I was the only one with a driving license at that time so whether I liked it or not, I HAD to drive the car to the nearest surau in order for us girls to pray. Besides, I can't leave the car in the middle of the road, could I? All of the sudden, the 10 minute journey felt like an hours worth of driving. Thankfully I could still drive the car, though it was a manual tramsmission one, but throughout the drive, I must have sweared buckets. Good thing the only word I know is 'bodoh, bengong' or those two little brothers of mine would get more nasty words to their name!

When we finally went to Lenggong for the actual project, I had already had my car for a week, and had been driving for only a week too! I'd always wondered how people could drive pass the speed limit, and even curse while driving that I had vowed NOT to do that. Besides, I was still a bit afraid, anyway but during that time, I really obeyed the rules. I mean, this highway (takde tol la.. just jalan biasa but like higway) had a 90km/hr limit and I followed it, to the exasperation of Yun who had to follow me from behind, since she didn't know the way. If it was up to her, she was sure to speed things up. In fact, budak² ni loved to tease me and being the lurus bendul me, I had to accept it haha.. but I don't mind, they were the best, even when Juty teased me on this 60km/hr road --> "Kak Ayu, dah 61km/jam dah ni.. dah lebih!!"

Well, my first speeding ticket was in last year. In fact, I even saw the traffic police and I knew Abah was about to receive a ticket. But that first time was really because of this Merc 'lembap' in front of me, and when I wanted to potong him, it just speeded up, causing me to accelerate even more, thus, my first speeding ticket! I received a good lecture from Abah (who ironically IS a lecturer haha!) and ashamedly paid for the summon.

Unsuprisingly, when I told my juniors, their first reaction was,"Kak Ayu kena saman laju???? Hahah.. tipu lah.. Nak bawak lebih dari had laju pun takut, takkan dah pandai kena saman dah kot?" Hehe, good ol' adik² of mine!!

Then, just a few months after that, while browsing at this online service for TNB, JPJ bla.. bla.. bla.. I suddenly wanted to check the car's summons, just for the fun of it BUT, the fun went right outta it when I discovered another TWO summonses. Darn!!!

I had to wait a few weeks before being able to pay for them, and was glad that they had this discount if paid during this certain period. However, my instincts told me to bring more money than I intended to. Well, upon arriving at the police counter, I was told that I had yet another summon. Ratsss!!! That makes it 4 speeding tickets in not even a year and YES, I had to use all the money I brought along with me.

After that, I vowed not to speed. Hahah, if there was a Speeding Anonymous, I might have to join. For week I had to endure teasing from my colleagus and juniors who loved to asked me, "Ayu tak dapat saman lagi dah ke?".

I was feeling good about myself after a few months samanless but one day, after teaching tuition in Parit Buntar, I headed to Jawi. On the way, rain started falling so I switched on my windshields (btw, why to we call it windshields? Shouldn't it be called rain/snow shields?) and imagine my suprise to see a piece of paper stuck on it. Waaaaaaaaarrrgggghh.. I got a new ticket but it was a parking ticket this time. All because I accidently paid my parking fees at the wrong parking meter!! Duhhh..

That ticket was followed by another two: the first one, I admit, I didn't pay on purpose but the second one, I totally forgot!! And now I'm like.. what is it with me and summons??

Then, a few days ago, I was chatting with Bebe on Yahoo! and he was busy checking his summons online. I smugly told him,"Saya dah insaf sekarang, tak kumpul dah saman laju" but he insisted on my i/c number so he could check. Wanting to prove how good I am on the road now, I checked it out myself and suprises of suprises! I GOT ANOTHER SPEEDING TICKET! And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to get this since I've really repent on my old ways. Insaf giler dah ni weih..

Well, like Faezah commented on my Friendster, "Kak Ayu dan saman memang sinonim.. tak dapat dipisahkan!"

I guess I'd always be haunted by these summons. Kena mandi bunga kot baru ilang rasa nak dapat saman ni agaknya.. hmmm..