Pound of Flesh

Recently while driving to work I had the honor of meeting one of Washington State's finest after he pulled me out of the flow of traffic so we could "chat". Evidently I was speeding while moving along with the flow of traffic. He asked me if I knew how fast I was going and I said "sure I do. I was going as fast as everyone else was." To this he responded that I was speeding and after checking to see if I was not actually a known terrorist he gave me my golden ticket (which was actually green) and magnanimously let me off with a measly "five-mile-over" ticket. After licking his boots and thanking him obsequiously for his kind generosity I entered back into traffic and continued on my way to work.
So, two weeks later when I look at the ticket and am ready to pay I find that this small time infraction is going to cost me $95.00! Holy what? $95.00!!!! I wonder what I would have to pay if his magnificence had opted to site me for something faster. So, I go online to the district court's web site and begrudgingly make my payment. A few days later I get a letter from the department of licensing saying my driving privilege will be suspended in April if I fail to pay the fine. Must be a mistake right? So I call the district court and wait. And wait. And wait some more. After a half hour on the phone a very cheerful customer service lady asks me how she might be of assistance. I tell her my story thinking the letter must have somehow been sent in error and she informs me that I need to pay an additional $51.00 as I failed to pay the original amount within the prescribed window. So, I comment about my pound of flesh they must extract and silently wonder when the Washington state patrol became the 21st century tax collectors and my local government became the Cosa nostra.