Rachel Caldecott
Full Member
Thanks for some of the suggestions. All of them more interesting than the truth. Steve C was closest. Unfortunately, no bicycles, horses, alcohol or onions were involved. (Neither was my book). Here is a quick version of what happened:
Every Saturday for about 30 years, the municipal police have allowed market traders to enter the market, the wrong way along a one-way street, for setting up and taking down purposes only. We've been doing this, along with all the other traders, for over 10 years. Yesterday, Chris, on his way to collect me and the stand, after a disappointing morning of poor sales, suddenly found himself followed and arrested by 2 rather unpleasant Gendarmes. The Municipality had neglected to put an explanatory sign on the no-entry sign at the bottom of the road, giving dispensation to traders on a Saturday. So the Gendarmes saw Chris breaking the law and arrested him. Which is totally fair enough. However, no amount of explaining by us, other market traders or even the Municipal Police made any difference. The older Gendarme was a total 'jobsworth'.
He handed Chris an iPhone. On the screen was one line of text and a space for Chris's signature. The rest of the text was hidden. A friend of ours took on the job of reading and translating, and managed to scroll back to the beginning of the document (a long one), in which Chris admitted his guilt and accepted a fine. Amount unspecified! Together, Chris and the friend took their time reading it, but the Gendarme was swiftly losing patience and snatched his phone back and signed it himself!
Apparently, we can now expect a fine in the post which we will have to contest. Looking on the bright side, Chris was not tasered, shot, beaten or tear-gassed. (Before anyone comments, yes, we are hoping the fact that the Gendarme himself signed the confession, invalidates the whole thing).
As we were standing there, blocking the entire narrow street, several cars tried to get in (the wrong way). I'm afraid I didn't help matters by asking whether they were going to get tickets too. The municipal police looked very sheepish and bumbling next to the heavily armed gendarmes and tried passing the buck to the city council for the lack of adequate signage. It would be rectified, they said.
The Gendarmes then headed off. Chris was forced to back down the street onto the main road, drive round the town to another road, where the police would have to unlock a barrier to let him in. While I waited for Chris to turn up at my spot on the market, half a dozen other traders drove their cars up the one-way street without incident.
Every Saturday for about 30 years, the municipal police have allowed market traders to enter the market, the wrong way along a one-way street, for setting up and taking down purposes only. We've been doing this, along with all the other traders, for over 10 years. Yesterday, Chris, on his way to collect me and the stand, after a disappointing morning of poor sales, suddenly found himself followed and arrested by 2 rather unpleasant Gendarmes. The Municipality had neglected to put an explanatory sign on the no-entry sign at the bottom of the road, giving dispensation to traders on a Saturday. So the Gendarmes saw Chris breaking the law and arrested him. Which is totally fair enough. However, no amount of explaining by us, other market traders or even the Municipal Police made any difference. The older Gendarme was a total 'jobsworth'.
He handed Chris an iPhone. On the screen was one line of text and a space for Chris's signature. The rest of the text was hidden. A friend of ours took on the job of reading and translating, and managed to scroll back to the beginning of the document (a long one), in which Chris admitted his guilt and accepted a fine. Amount unspecified! Together, Chris and the friend took their time reading it, but the Gendarme was swiftly losing patience and snatched his phone back and signed it himself!
Apparently, we can now expect a fine in the post which we will have to contest. Looking on the bright side, Chris was not tasered, shot, beaten or tear-gassed. (Before anyone comments, yes, we are hoping the fact that the Gendarme himself signed the confession, invalidates the whole thing).
As we were standing there, blocking the entire narrow street, several cars tried to get in (the wrong way). I'm afraid I didn't help matters by asking whether they were going to get tickets too. The municipal police looked very sheepish and bumbling next to the heavily armed gendarmes and tried passing the buck to the city council for the lack of adequate signage. It would be rectified, they said.
The Gendarmes then headed off. Chris was forced to back down the street onto the main road, drive round the town to another road, where the police would have to unlock a barrier to let him in. While I waited for Chris to turn up at my spot on the market, half a dozen other traders drove their cars up the one-way street without incident.
