Thursday, February 01, 2007

One Rule For Us, One For Them ...

A wide-eyed teenager walked in to police station and waited in line for the desk officer.

"Yes?", said the officer turning to the youth. "Someone's stolen my scooter". The desk officer rolled his eyes, bent down and opened a drawer where the report forms were kept. "Fill this out" barked the officer, "and no, I don't have a pen."

The youth placed his crash helmet on the desk, took the form and pulling a stubby pencil out of an inside pocket, filled it in the best he could. He handed it back and the information he'd given was briefly scanned "So, you left it here?" asked the officer, pointing at the lower part of the form. The youth nodded. "Did your scooter have an anti-theft device? A chain or a D-lock?" the officer enquired. The youth lowered his eyes and shook his head. "Mmm", scowled the officer. "Was it insured then?" Again, the youth examined his €200 Nikes. "Well then, we've got your details and we'll be in touch if we find it." The officer turned and laid the report on a pile behind him. Picking up his helmet, the youth made for the door. "It's a good thing we didn't catch you riding it sonny", called the officer, "because we'd have nicked ya!"

A few kilometers away, another angst-ridden teenager was going through the same process, except for a few minor details ...

His scooter was stolen on January 7th from outside an apartment building in the wealthy district of Neuilly-sur-Seine. House prices start in the millions out here and the sound of jewellery rattling down the streets can drown out birdsong. However, his bike was found 2 weeks later, 28 kilometers away in Bobigny, a poor rundown immigrant ghetto. What a stroke of luck. Well, not exactly. It has since become a national scandal due to the amount of man-hours used to find the bike, the costly DNA and fingerprinting resources employed, the call of "double standard" is now the latest cry. This youth happens to be the son of Interior Minister and Presidential candidate, Nicholas Sarkozy. By the way, Nicky is also the ultimate head of the French police force.

The cops have since arrested and charged 3 youths with this atrocious crime. No doubt, they'll be shot at dawn.

Just so we can put this into perspective, Sarkozy Jnr's bike didn't have an anti-theft device, nor did it have insurance covering theft. Last year alone, more than 85,000 motorcycles and scooters were stolen in France.

On a trip to London, Nicholas Sarkozy was hounded by the French press and quizzed about the events back home. "Leave my children out of all this", he responded.

Why? You didn't!

Stu

1 Comments:

Blogger Stu said...

err, I'm not related to anyone in authority so the answer is yes. Naturally.

Monday, February 05, 2007 10:54:00 am  

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