A prime example of how inflation rears its ugly head, in every corner of life..
Got pulled over today for changing lanes too close to the traffic light - i.e. I crossed the solid white line.. Anyhow, I had to park a friggin 1/2 mile away from the Police "Post" which ticked me off a bit.. But anyway he was a very amiable fellow, for an Indonesian police officer.. Anyhow, in negotiating his "dinner allowance", I noticed that there's been a striking increase in the cost of keeping these incidents off the books.. Not more than 6 months ago, the standard rate was Rp20,000 - and that would typically be the floor you'd hit in negotiations; I kid you not when I tell you that this guy wouldn't budge below Rp50,000.. I aid, "aduh loh pak, mahal sekarang ya?", he replied, "ya pak, semua naik sekarang.. bensin mahal sekali..".. I laughed - thought it was quite funny that the cost of gas is now being used to justify all kinds of price hikes.. Anyway, I gave him a hundred, got my fifty change, grabbed Gudang Garam off him, shook his hand and went back to the car.. I'd still take that any day over the $200 USD fine I got in Oregon last year for going 63 in a 50 zone..
ct
Got pulled over today for changing lanes too close to the traffic light - i.e. I crossed the solid white line.. Anyhow, I had to park a friggin 1/2 mile away from the Police "Post" which ticked me off a bit.. But anyway he was a very amiable fellow, for an Indonesian police officer.. Anyhow, in negotiating his "dinner allowance", I noticed that there's been a striking increase in the cost of keeping these incidents off the books.. Not more than 6 months ago, the standard rate was Rp20,000 - and that would typically be the floor you'd hit in negotiations; I kid you not when I tell you that this guy wouldn't budge below Rp50,000.. I aid, "aduh loh pak, mahal sekarang ya?", he replied, "ya pak, semua naik sekarang.. bensin mahal sekali..".. I laughed - thought it was quite funny that the cost of gas is now being used to justify all kinds of price hikes.. Anyway, I gave him a hundred, got my fifty change, grabbed Gudang Garam off him, shook his hand and went back to the car.. I'd still take that any day over the $200 USD fine I got in Oregon last year for going 63 in a 50 zone..
ct