TOIP

I have just sat through my first Traffic Offenders I(?) Program; not sure what the I is for.

We all know there is a whole industry built around government sanctioned gambling. Well that is also true of traffic offences now.

Apart from the fines, which are getting bigger (yeah they’re getting bigger) there is a host of service providers sucking off the tit, like the TOIP course. It cost nothing to produce but lots to attend! 50 people by $200 = $10k for last night’s effort. It’s like being robbed all over again.

Then you have the police, courts, lawyers, etc – it’s a full-on industry. Once you get an industry surrounding some odd bit of government legislated monopoly or artefact its bloody hard to remove it.

In the case of driving offences no one really wants to solve the problems because it’s far too lucrative pretending to do something.

And there is no fear that their measures might actually work – the increasing numbers of drivers and journeys ensure the accidents and fines keep rolling in. Besides, they keep turning minor offences into major ones, and previously non-offences into offences.

Unlike the gambling industry these guys also have the high-ground moral argument to run. Last night they even tried to get me to feel sorry for the police and the traumatic stress they get in their job. Really!

The course itself was woeful. The actual presenter didn’t show; she is apparently a victim of a car accident with head injuries etc. So part 1 on head injuries was given, by proxy, by the PCYC boss who didn’t know anything, and part 2 on police was given by a 19 year old Gen Y retard. Sorry for the language, but she was so bad she should have been too ashamed to speak in public. Giggling, inappropriate jokes, poor grasp of subject matter, no apparent genuine interest in the course, etc. Unfortunately Gen Y’s feel no shame.

There was about 50 working class blokes and 4 women….that’s a stat! The four women were all furiously taking notes. Not one bloke was except a couple of Asians who were happily taking phone snaps of each powerpoint slide.

The rest of the blokes, including me, were relying on their great memory and Google to complete the homework quiz. In truth none of them wanted to look girly.

I befriended two, Norm and Mick, and we went to the pub after for a beer primarily to co-join in our ‘homework’ efforts; yes, we get questionnaires which we have to fill in. We just had one beer though, since we had just sat through the course and we are right on top of responsible driving.

Norm and Mick have learned to suck it all up. They don’t believe a word anyone says. They can see right through the bullshit. They know they have no choice. Sad really.