Chris Core's Core Values

The suspense is killing me.  Every day I go dry-mouthed to the mailbox expecting to find an envelope from the state of Maryland.  It’s been a month now.  I just want to get this over with.  Let me explain.

On July 5^th, my wife and I were driving back to our house from BWI Airport during evening rush hour.  As we cruised down 95, WTOP Radio advised us that the outer-loop of the Beltway was badly backed up (no surprise there).

We were about to resign ourselves to a long crawl home when I spotted the sign for Maryland Route 200, the Inter-Country Connector.  Quickly I devised an escape plan.  We would take the ICC to Colesville Road, then drive south into Silver Spring and avoid the Beltway all together.  Perfect.  So we took the exit.

There was, however, a complication.  The ICC is a toll road.  Although we own an EZ pass, it was not in the car we were driving.  For those of you who don’t know, there are no toll booths on the ICC.

I remember reading that if you use the ICC without an EZ pass, hidden cameras will photograph your car and license plate.  The state will then send you a bill for the toll, plus a penalty fine for not having an EZ pass.  The problem is, I couldn’t remember how much the fine is. Still, we ventured on to the ICC and got home in record time.  It was great.  Now I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

How much is the fine going to be?  Two dollars?  Fine.  Five dollars?  OK.  Twenty bucks?  Boy, I hope not, my time is not that valuable. For that amount I would have slugged it out on the Beltway.

Each day that goes by the nervous anticipation builds.  I know I am going to be punished by my state.  I know the ticket is coming… but when?

So, please, traffic gods in Maryland, let’s get this over with.  Send me my ticket.  Because getting right with The Man is a Core Value.