Corruption on the go

 Thu, 06 May 2010

Saying Panamanian officials are corrupt is like saying bears defecate in the woods. Duh, hello! But at what point does it stop?

The other day, I had just managed to get around yet another wreck in the road (third one for that day if I remember), turned the corner into a shady part of town, then the next corner and came up behind a pickup from the Justice Organ (Organo Judicial) stopped in the road talking to the driver of a large, white, very expensive SUV (probably a Prado, but don't quote me on that).

Anyway, as I'm sitting behind them laying on my horn (perhaps if they can't hear they'll clear the road -- and perhaps some day pigs will fly too), I look up to see a wad of cash pass from one vehicle to the other. Why do I never have a camera when I need one?

I have no idea who these folks were, but a Justice Organ pickup (OJ-119) has no valid reason to stop anywhere, much less block the street, to talk to someone in an expensive SUV with money passing between the vehicles.

I was mildly dumb-founded, wondering if the guy in the SUV was going to shoot me for what I just witnessed. It was a bad part of town. OTOH, my horn had gotten the attention of more than a few folks, so there would be witnesses in this daylight (approx 4:30 pm) rendezvous. This was 4 May 2010. I remember because I had just left my son at Tae Kwon Do practice.

Well, as a friend of mine reminded me: If it weren't for corruption, nothing would get done in this tropical paradise.

David-

Corruption on the go

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