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wendy devlin

Feb 16, 2003, 8:22 AM

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Mordida re-visited

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I've been mulling over the mordida topic for the last few days...stimulated by the recent thread on the topic that got locked out... when participants started attacking the person instead the viewpoint. If anyone is interested in the topic, it might be helpful to review the whole thread. I took a count...About half of the commenters seemed to support the mordida, the others said that they opposed it...although some admitted having no experience with it...some described how they 'paid up' but nobody said that they actually took the time and paid the fine....do other people have other experiences? Do tell. Some time ago when Mexconnect was just one GENERAL forum, a Mexican asked that we, visitors, ex-pats and Mexicans, to...NOT... support the mordida. He explained at some length, that whenever we comply with it, we solidify the expectation that this is the WAY that business is conducted in Mexico. He loves his country passionately but really wanted the mordida way to end. I thought about that viewpoint....but it wasn't until the 'little bite' happened to us, that I understood what he was trying to say. Up to that day...we never personally encountered the mordida... all of our assorted experiences with police had been favorable...but we listened to people...their stories, and I formed the opinion, 'if it can happen to you, then it can happen to me." So I speak not as an expert on the subject....nor have I logged as much time and experience as many of you here...but here goes one family's story...
Arbon was driving thru Guadalajara for the first time. We were looking for the FORD dealership in order to have something done on our van. We pulled off the highway and asked someone for directions. As we crossed the Perferico, we started looking for the turn-off. Arbon put the left-turn indicator on(at this point we did not know about the use of laterals to make left turns). A motor-cycle cop immediately pulled us over. The cop asked for Arbon's drivers licence. Arbon handed him his old one(punched because it was out of date) The cop then pulled out his ticket book and told us that we had to pay $702 pesos... ON THE SPOT. Sheet! The mordida. We weren't really sure what we had done wrong...and his Spanish was too fast to completely understand. But it was clear that he wanted the money-now. Even though I hated the thought of all the hours that it would take, I insisted that we would only pay the fee at the police station...and ONLY if he would escort us there...since we were tourists, driving in the city for the first time, searching for the FORD dealership...translation "easily lost". The cop still insisted that we pay on the spot. Arbon tried another tact.... to humor our way out the situation. Arbon pointed to the list of fines, ranging from $30P for the lowest to $702P for the highest. He asked if he could pay the $30P fine instead. It was still no way. So we turned to PLAN B-the bilingual, bodacious, babe in the back-seat. Our daughter told the cop that her parents were refusing to pay the ticket on the spot. She also told him that we DIDN"T have $702P on us(which happened to be true) And that we were insisting that he accompany our car to the police office. Suddenly, he handed Arbon back his dud licence, hopped on his motorcycle and drove away. Although it is difficult ever to know completely what is going on...I had read somewhere on the internet, that sometimes cops hover on the Perifericos of large cities, watching for foreign-plated vehicles-and pounce on them...for a mordida. Perhaps that is what was happening here. I know too, that I might have felt more pressured to pay up on the spot, if I hadn't remembered the Mexican who asked that people NOT support the mordida...and if we had actually had the money on us. Thanks for reading this. Wendy

Rolly

Feb 16, 2003, 8:39 AM

Post #2 of 5 (855 views)

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Re: [wendy devlin] Mordida re-visited

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I've been stopped three times. The first time, the cop decided he didn't want to talk with me after he walked up to the window and saw my pit bulldog sitting on the seat next to me. Another time the cop was very professional and pleasant as he gave me a ticket without even a hint of paying it on the spot. The third time was a mordida hit.

I had just pulled into town at the end of 300-mile trip and was almost home. It was mid-afternoon. I was hot and tired from the long road and from a poor night’s rest. A cop jumped out from the shade of a building and waved for me to stop. I knew I had not done anything wrong, so I surmised that this would be my first encounter with la mordida. Tired as I was, I was determined that if this SOB wanted money, he was going to have to work for it.

He came up to my window and said very pleasantly, as they always do, “Buenas tardes, senor. Blah, blah, blah.”

When he paused, I replied with my worst Spanish “Lo siento, señor. No hablo español.”

He looked a little surprised and tried again. I replied with “No comprendo.”

Then he used what I guess was his only English word: “Money!” In next several minutes he would repeat the word many times, but the dumb gringo just didn’t understand.

“Por que?” I would reply. He would launch into a long spiel which I truly didn’t understand. “No comprendo” was my chorus.

“Coke,” he finally said holding out his hand.

Of course, I knew what he wanted, but I pretended to take the drug meaning of the word. That gave us a couple more minutes to get the dumb gringo to understand that it was the drink not the drug he wanted. I was determined to drag it out as long as I though wise, so I continued to be very nice but very dumb. I was hot, but he must have been hotter in that uniform standing in the direct sun against a white pickup. When the veins in his neck began to throb, I decided it was time to end the game, so I suddenly understood.

“Oh, comprendo. Quiere dinero. Lo siento señor. No tengo dinero.”

I though he was going to explode. I reached into my pocket being careful not to extract any folding money, and pulled out two coins – 5 pesos and 50 centavos. I offered the coins, saying "No tengo mas." He snatched the 5 pesos. Before he could say anything else, I said “Adios,” and drove away chuckling.

My town is small enough that I know all the traffic cops by sight. I had never seen this guy before or since. I doubt he was a bogus cop. He was standing on a busy corner where a cop is often stationed. In a town of this size, a bogus cop would be spotted quickly by other officers. I guess he tried his trick with the wrong people and got bounced. I hope.

Rolly

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
This is a good time to be living in Mexico.
A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.

(This post was edited by Rolly on Feb 16, 2003, 8:40 AM)

dumois

Feb 16, 2003, 8:41 AM

Post #3 of 5 (834 views)

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Re: [wendy devlin] Mordida re-visited

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I have had the same experience time and again. Without starting a heated discussion, even using humor when suitable, but firmly refusing to pay mordida on the spot, I've got (gotten?) away without paying anything. Many times with no ticket.

Saludos desde Guadalajara,

Dumois

(This post was edited by dumois on Feb 16, 2003, 8:49 AM)

sparks

Feb 16, 2003, 9:00 AM

Post #4 of 5 (800 views)

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Re: [dumois] Mordida re-visited

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Is there any record keeping of tickets and/or accidents that could effect your insurance rates. I assume the mordida goes unrecorded but but even real tickets might be.

Marlene

Mar 3, 2003, 9:53 AM

Post #5 of 5 (648 views)

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Re: [Adios] Mordida re-visited

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This is an interesting topic to me. I have yet to be stopped by a transito even though our Mexican plated vehicle has one plate missing (heinous crime!) My Mexican husband on the other hand isn't so lucky. He carries a tattered report that states the plate is missing and that he has 10 days to fix it (buy expensive new registration with 2 new plates) The transitos can't be bothered to read it to discover that it is dated sometime last year. Good 50 peso investment that was!

I too carry a tattered old report that states my Drivers License was stolen (two years ago). Guess I should think about getting a new one, but the 50 pesos I keep in the ashtray is my temporary insurance in the meantime. My mother-in-law has raised my husband never to pay the mordida, so they think my 50 pesos is for the parking lot attendants, etc. (My husband never pays mordida and rarely ends up with a ticket, only a warning, I should add).

An amusing recent incident. Some Canadian friends were here on vacation, and we all hit the road for an evening out. The group was piled into the back of our little Ford Ranger (family taxi!) and off we went, complete with mother-in-law. We hadn't gotten far along the malecon when a transito "tamarindo" leaped out from behind a palm tree, waving his flashlight. My husband was prepared for the missing license plate routine, and was surprised to discover the crime of the evening was passengers in the back of the truck!! Since this is an all too common mode of transportation here, he was puzzled. Oh, they can't sit on the side of the truck box - but they can sit down inside...Oh, really? Okay, sorry officer, blah blah blah. The ticket book was returning to its spot, verbal warning in place, when our Canadian friend, not understanding spanish, thought he would helpfully bail us out of a ticket, and flashed a 100 peso note! Yikes, my mother-in-law was shaking her head disapprovingly at him, but too late. Canuck puts the note back in his pocket but the ticket book quickly returned to action, pen poised. Then the transaction took place. Money in hand, the transito walked away. Canadian tourist gets a scolding from mother-in-law who says, "No es correcto!", to which Canuck tourist replies "it's okay, he thought he was getting 100, but I actually gave him a 50"!!.... Moral of this story - don't be too hasty to offer the mordida - you may simply be in for a legitimate warning as we were. Go figure.

Marlene

www.mazatlan.homestead.com