When I was young, my family would spend 2-3 weeks camping on the beach at Camp Pendleton Naval Base in Southern California. While I was in college, I had work commitments that made it impossible for me to spend 3 summer weeks there, so I would drive there on my days off and spend as much time as I could.
I was driving about a mile from the Basilone exit on I-5 and a lug nut came off the car in front of me. It bounced up and hit the lower left corner of the windshield. The impact created a 4-inch crack. Bummer! By the way, I knew it was a lug nut because it landed in the bed of my pickup truck, saving other drivers from the hazard.
I drive to the entrance of the base and show the man on duty my ID, my vehicle registration, my insurance and a copy of the campsite reservation. He looks at everything and says: “Everything looks OK. When the barrier goes up, drive to the guard post and we will get you a vehicle pass for the campsite.”
As he returns everything, “Do you know that you have a crack in your windshield?”
“Yes, it just happened on the highway.”
“Okay, come through.”
I park and go to the guardhouse to get the pass and he says, “Now that you’re on base, I have to fine you for the broken windshield.”
He flipped through the large folder of offenses he had to find the right one. As he flipped through, I noticed a page marked with a marker. Public drunkenness was punishable by a $10 fine. That must be used often. #Marines
A broken windshield was fined $40.
In fact, I returned another weekend in the same vehicle (the windshield was still cracked) and the security guard said nothing.
I suspect that the guard who cited me had just been told off for doing something stupid by an officer who had gotten through before me. That’s the way it goes downhill.
