I was in Stepanagert today and for the first time in years it seems, I got stopped by a traffic cop who knew me.
This could not have been a worst time to pick to stop me, as I was in a supper rush and really was not in the mood to see what the cop had to tell me. With that feeling, I just ignored him and kept driving until I got to where I needed to get (which was not that far from where he wanted to stop me).
He walked up to my car and again, me not being in a talkative mood, I rolled down my window and presented my documents.
He didn�t take the documents and asked me why I was being so rude, not to stop and so on. I told him of my rush and my not being in a talkative mood.
He informed me that as of 3 days ago, a decision had been made that all rear-window sun visors and any window tint film, must be removed.
I asked him who came up with that rule and he said he got his orders from his chief who got it from the Minister of Internal Affairs.
I told him that I refused to lower the rear-window sun visor and remove the film from my windows as they protect me and my passengers from UV, which is known to contribute to skin cancer. He said that he knows this too, but he is just carrying out orders.
I sited the law of acceptable level of tint is 30% and my windows are only 20%. He said that is a Russian law that we use to follow, but now even 10% tint is illegal. He said that he had it on his car and was made to remove it.
I told him that you tell your boss that I refuse to comply with such an absurd decision and to have them call me to their office and I will further discuss the reason why and demand that they abolish such a stupid decision.
I guess I really must have been in a bad mood, as I continued to tell him that I will do one better than that and will go and visit the Minister of Internal Affairs myself, as if he is the one calling out this order, then he needs to have his head examined and I�ll be the one to tell him so.
As we spoke, my passenger pointed out a car that drove by with what I would guess had 50%+ black windows and asked the cop what about that car? The cop said that was a KGB car and they are allowed to have dark windows.
The poor cop who by this time was agreeing with everything I was saying just kept telling me that he is just doing his job and if I refuse, I refuse, but don�t talk so rude and take it out on him. He said he would be the messenger and tell his bosses if I want.
I said that he would be doing me a favor to write me a ticket so I would have a paper and a good reason to go visit the Minister, but he refused and said that he had a great deal of respect for me to write me a ticket.
I shook is hand and with rear-window visor raised and blackened widow film securely adhered, I dove off.
I went to pick up a friend who is visiting from America who 10 days ago had come to see me, but I had accidentally transposed a couple of numbers of my cell phone so he could not call me. He had stopped in to the government building and spoken to someone on the President�s staff, asking how he could find me. He was told that yea, there is a guy from California, but he comes and goes to Yerevan all the time and is not here now. Well I guess the President�s office keeps tabs on me, and yes, I was in Armenia at the time. Anyway, President�s office, rest assured, he finally found me and thank you for keeping my cellular phone number (which the President himself has) confidential. I do give you permission in the future to make a phone call to me to tell me that such a prominent Diaspora figure is in town looking for me so that when I tell them that you had the means to contact me, they wont draw such negative conclusions about you. You can also call me when the President needs sound advice and oh yea, when my turn come up to visit with the President since I am on the list, right?
So as I was talking to my guest, I could see from the building we were in that another cop car rolled up, walked up to my car and talked to my passenger. Then they drove off.
When I went to the car, I asked my passenger what had happened? He said the cops came up to the car and made mention of the new decision of lowering the visor and removing the film. He told them that we just got finished talking with another cop about this visor and film deal. They asked who it was and my passenger said that he didn�t know, but pointed to the cop car up the street. They said they would be right back, went to their car and I guess talked to the other cop on their radio and then drove off.
Well I need to add to my very long to-do list a meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs so we can see who came up with this decision and what their logic is behind it. I wonder if they consulted with the Minister of Health before putting people at a greater risk of contracting skin cancer.
This could not have been a worst time to pick to stop me, as I was in a supper rush and really was not in the mood to see what the cop had to tell me. With that feeling, I just ignored him and kept driving until I got to where I needed to get (which was not that far from where he wanted to stop me).
He walked up to my car and again, me not being in a talkative mood, I rolled down my window and presented my documents.
He didn�t take the documents and asked me why I was being so rude, not to stop and so on. I told him of my rush and my not being in a talkative mood.
He informed me that as of 3 days ago, a decision had been made that all rear-window sun visors and any window tint film, must be removed.
I asked him who came up with that rule and he said he got his orders from his chief who got it from the Minister of Internal Affairs.
I told him that I refused to lower the rear-window sun visor and remove the film from my windows as they protect me and my passengers from UV, which is known to contribute to skin cancer. He said that he knows this too, but he is just carrying out orders.
I sited the law of acceptable level of tint is 30% and my windows are only 20%. He said that is a Russian law that we use to follow, but now even 10% tint is illegal. He said that he had it on his car and was made to remove it.
I told him that you tell your boss that I refuse to comply with such an absurd decision and to have them call me to their office and I will further discuss the reason why and demand that they abolish such a stupid decision.
I guess I really must have been in a bad mood, as I continued to tell him that I will do one better than that and will go and visit the Minister of Internal Affairs myself, as if he is the one calling out this order, then he needs to have his head examined and I�ll be the one to tell him so.
As we spoke, my passenger pointed out a car that drove by with what I would guess had 50%+ black windows and asked the cop what about that car? The cop said that was a KGB car and they are allowed to have dark windows.
The poor cop who by this time was agreeing with everything I was saying just kept telling me that he is just doing his job and if I refuse, I refuse, but don�t talk so rude and take it out on him. He said he would be the messenger and tell his bosses if I want.
I said that he would be doing me a favor to write me a ticket so I would have a paper and a good reason to go visit the Minister, but he refused and said that he had a great deal of respect for me to write me a ticket.
I shook is hand and with rear-window visor raised and blackened widow film securely adhered, I dove off.
I went to pick up a friend who is visiting from America who 10 days ago had come to see me, but I had accidentally transposed a couple of numbers of my cell phone so he could not call me. He had stopped in to the government building and spoken to someone on the President�s staff, asking how he could find me. He was told that yea, there is a guy from California, but he comes and goes to Yerevan all the time and is not here now. Well I guess the President�s office keeps tabs on me, and yes, I was in Armenia at the time. Anyway, President�s office, rest assured, he finally found me and thank you for keeping my cellular phone number (which the President himself has) confidential. I do give you permission in the future to make a phone call to me to tell me that such a prominent Diaspora figure is in town looking for me so that when I tell them that you had the means to contact me, they wont draw such negative conclusions about you. You can also call me when the President needs sound advice and oh yea, when my turn come up to visit with the President since I am on the list, right?
So as I was talking to my guest, I could see from the building we were in that another cop car rolled up, walked up to my car and talked to my passenger. Then they drove off.
When I went to the car, I asked my passenger what had happened? He said the cops came up to the car and made mention of the new decision of lowering the visor and removing the film. He told them that we just got finished talking with another cop about this visor and film deal. They asked who it was and my passenger said that he didn�t know, but pointed to the cop car up the street. They said they would be right back, went to their car and I guess talked to the other cop on their radio and then drove off.
Well I need to add to my very long to-do list a meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs so we can see who came up with this decision and what their logic is behind it. I wonder if they consulted with the Minister of Health before putting people at a greater risk of contracting skin cancer.
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