Rubble lay outside the shop - a mixture of cement, dirt, wood pieces and rubble. It was waste from today’s work of renovating the shop. The rubble was not supposed to lie outside the shop on the footpath. It was illegal. This man had a vague plan of temporarily pushing out the rubble so there was space inside the shop for him to work and besides, within a half an hour a tempo would arrive and pick it up. Two men were patrolling the streets. One dressed in a white and black pant which could be his uniform and the other was dressed in a coloured checkered shirt and blue jeans, maybe because he was off duty, he did not wear a uniform. They were employed by the Municipal Corporation to find violations.
And lo, they stumbled upon such a one. They caught hold of the man who put the rubble out. The man himself had no money with him, for he was poor man, earning daily wages from the contractor who employed him. The two Municipal men crowded around the man and told him he had to cough up 10,000 bucks or he would be in trouble. Be in trouble thought the man, but he was already in trouble. His fingers fumbled out his phone and called up his contractor.
Over the phone, the contractor abused his employee, cursed him for getting caught and told him to borrow money from the shop owner.
The owner of the shop was a widow. Through a phone call from one of the workers at the shop she heard about the incident, dropped her household work, grabbed hold of her 23 year old son and rushed to the shop in a state of panic, wondering what was happening. To their dismay as they reached the shop, they found that they the Municipal men and the worker had gone to their house.
So swiftly, they marched off back to their dwelling. A red post office stood on the street where their abode was and that is where they found the three men. Though one of the municipal men was on the phone, the mother did not wait, her lips gave a burst of opposition against them, questioning their actions. A moment later, the municipal man on the mobile phone had put it down and was explaining the situation to the two of them. The municipal men claimed that the worker was in the wrong and he would have to pay the fine, however the fine was lowered from 10,000 to 5000 bucks. The mother and son knew that they could not reason against this violation, they gently, without abuses cursed the worker and then agreed to pay the fine. The mother marched to her house with the worker hesitatingly following behind.
One of the municipal men put an arm around the son, and told him a strategy on how to get his money back from the contractor – for it is a contractor who really must bear the brunt of the fine, not them – the owners. The son nodded, guessing that perhaps the municipal men were feeling slightly guilty for charging the fine.
The worker came back down with the money. The municipal men promised that they would write a bill for the fine. Without letting the worker out of their sight, they walked out of the lane to probably meddle in the affairs of others.
And lo, they stumbled upon such a one. They caught hold of the man who put the rubble out. The man himself had no money with him, for he was poor man, earning daily wages from the contractor who employed him. The two Municipal men crowded around the man and told him he had to cough up 10,000 bucks or he would be in trouble. Be in trouble thought the man, but he was already in trouble. His fingers fumbled out his phone and called up his contractor.
Over the phone, the contractor abused his employee, cursed him for getting caught and told him to borrow money from the shop owner.
The owner of the shop was a widow. Through a phone call from one of the workers at the shop she heard about the incident, dropped her household work, grabbed hold of her 23 year old son and rushed to the shop in a state of panic, wondering what was happening. To their dismay as they reached the shop, they found that they the Municipal men and the worker had gone to their house.
So swiftly, they marched off back to their dwelling. A red post office stood on the street where their abode was and that is where they found the three men. Though one of the municipal men was on the phone, the mother did not wait, her lips gave a burst of opposition against them, questioning their actions. A moment later, the municipal man on the mobile phone had put it down and was explaining the situation to the two of them. The municipal men claimed that the worker was in the wrong and he would have to pay the fine, however the fine was lowered from 10,000 to 5000 bucks. The mother and son knew that they could not reason against this violation, they gently, without abuses cursed the worker and then agreed to pay the fine. The mother marched to her house with the worker hesitatingly following behind.
One of the municipal men put an arm around the son, and told him a strategy on how to get his money back from the contractor – for it is a contractor who really must bear the brunt of the fine, not them – the owners. The son nodded, guessing that perhaps the municipal men were feeling slightly guilty for charging the fine.
The worker came back down with the money. The municipal men promised that they would write a bill for the fine. Without letting the worker out of their sight, they walked out of the lane to probably meddle in the affairs of others.
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