Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Scofflaw

The other day I mentioned here that I saw a deal for vacationing in Cuba. Seven days at a resort, all drinks and food included (even booze) and round trip flight and transfers to the resort for $700 including tax. Such an amazing deal. You can get the same kind of package in Mexico or the Dominican Republic for a couple hundred more, but I'm all about the deals so Cuba is really calling. When I mentioned it before, there was some sputtering about the prohibition of Americans traveling there. As I recall, Castro seized power and appropriated much of the land owned by American interests, and the subsequent embargo took effect in 1962. Before I was even born. While it's handy to blame Castro and his communistic ways for the poor undeveloped state of the country, the more accurate view is that the US helps keep it that way by preventing investment there. This is not the case with other communist regimes such as China. The ban on tourism there hasn't stopped its slow progression nonetheless. Europeans and Canadians escape to Cuba in the winter. In addition, Americans have been vacationing there for decades, albeit by detouring through neighboring Mexico or Canada. Travel isn't actually banned, it's having any sort of trade transaction there that is. I wonder if paying a Canadian company for an all-inclusive trip would count. We'll probably end up going to Mexico or not going at all, but the forbiddenness really makes it attractive.

I've always been the kind of person who is law-abiding when it makes sense. The reasoning, "because it's the law" doesn't really work with me. It's why I've done such illegal things as host a poker party and skinny dip in the ocean. How about you? Do you scoff at some laws, or do you blindly toe the line?

24 comments:

Snooze said...

I speed. Never in cities because it makes sense to me that where there are a lot of people you should use common sense. On an open highway though, I pretend I'm in the Indy 500.

Anonymous said...

Alas! I am (sadly) more of the toe the line guy. I think it has to do with how parents potty trained in the late 40's. However I do have my own little "rebellions", so I am not totally without hope. :)

Anonymous said...

I hate the seat belt law and figure they can't see me without a belt on at night so I never wear one then.
The last time you mentioned Cuba I pointed out the hypocrisy of the trade embargo against Cuba while making communist China our biggest trade partner. (a decision we will soon come to regret)

Polt said...

With my job being what it is, I dont' really have the option to flaunt the law. However, I challenege authority whenever I think it's stupid.

"Do it this way because I said" is NOT a way for a boss to motivate employees, and sure way to get me to do it a different way, and to make that different way quicker and/or better, just to show the stupid moron in charge that he IS a stupid moron.

HUGS....

A Bear in the Woods said...

I'm not into blindly obeying authority.
Did you know that Cheney recently went up to a hunting preserve and blew away hundreds of pen raised birds which can't fly and can barely walk?
And they talk about Castro...

Islagringo said...

I could give a shit about the embargo against Cuba. I have thought it was wrong for most of my life. However, I would not travel to there. Since I am only 90 miles away, I probably hear more news from there than you. It has a become a country dominated by gangs and the Mafia and tourists and not guaranteed 100% safety. It's just a bad place to be right now. If you need the sun, a great beach and a laid back life style, come on down to our island! You'll be glad you did!

Birdie said...

I really, really, really want one of these:

http://www.phonejammer.com/cell-phone-jammer/p2jbz-r.asp

and they're illegal in the US.

(How do I turn a URL into a link in here? Does it matter that I'm on a Mac?)

Fatinah said...

I toe the line blindly and proudly!

Cooper said...

I, too, have skinny dipped a few times in the lakes around here. I have also been known to ski beyond the official, signed areas on ski trails. Do you ever feel like walking on the grass simply because the sign tells you not to? It may be perverse, but the more I am nagged to do something, the more I am unlikely to want to do it.

don said...

US trade embargo's rarely make any sense anyway.

Go to Cuba in good conscience. As a Canadian citizen, you are not breaking any of our laws by going there.

So enjoy your time there. You will be supporting their struggling economy.

Better Cuba than somewhere like Florida which according to Fox News is dominated by tourists, Mafia and gangs (perhaps gangs of Blue Rinse).

Rox said...

Okay. I'm busted. Yesterday, I looked down at the speedometer and I was doing 120km/hr in a 100km/hr zone.

I'm a frigging rebel.

I say go where you want to. We're all citizens of the world.

Patrick said...

I was arrested for skinny dipping in Lake Washington with four friends. It was eleven pm on a hot Sunday night, and we probably wouldn't have been caught if it weren't for the fact that we were in a park that closed at Sundown. This caused the neighbors to call the cops. I guess that means I broke two laws that night. Fortunately the judge thought it was all a crock, and dismissed the charges, so my record remains pure as the driven snow.
While I can't say for sure, I may have also broken some anti-sodomy laws in Indiana. I'm such a renegade.

Mark in DE said...

Thanks for clarifying that 'Americans traveling to Cuba' thingy for us!

Like you, I guess I am more law-abiding when I see that the law makes sense, and less so when it doesn't seem to matter. I have skinny-dipped, sped, and littered. One time threw a fast food cup out of my sunroof while driving. My friend & I looked at each other and burst into laughter as we mocked 'the law'.

Mark

Anonymous said...

"Do you scoff at some laws, or do you blindly toe the line?"

I don't pick and choose which laws I'll follow. As if my needs/wants/desires are more important than the laws which exist.

Do I agree with all laws? Hell no. But then my job, rather than just break them because I don't agree with them, is to work to change the law.

I will now get off my high horse and say yeah, I've probably broken a law or two. Okay, yeah. I've parked over the limit in a 90-minute zone. That's a law, right?

A Lewis said...

I'd definitely to go Cuba given the opportunity.....so, NO, I don't obey all of the laws, apparently. Our Cuban restaurant is one of our very favorites here.

bardelf said...

I would love to see Havana!

jali said...

Have a ball - I'm looking forward to the photos and the wonderful stories.

Anonymous said...

I would go to Cuba. Outside the walls of your resort, Havana is a facinating city which has been stuck in a 1950's time warp. The archiecture of the old city is worth exploring. And the fleets of vintage cars are interesting to see. There are no taxi companies, so prepare to negotiate with locals. I reallyy think it is a must visit before Castro dies and embrgos get lifted as "progress" sanitizes the island. ChristopherYVR

Anonymous said...

I adore this post.

Clearly I'm a situationally ethical sort of person. I don't think it is necessarily about ego either. I mean, how is a poker party hurting the common good?

madamerouge said...

Cuba is on my list of places to see! Havana... all of the neat old cars...

LisaPizza said...

I often turn left on "red" when driving to work in the early a.m. because I can't be bothered to wait for the next green arrow. The road ahead is completely empty, and I always check my rear view mirror first in case there is a cop approaching from the rear so it is a completely safe maneuver. It is illegal none-the-less.

Brice said...

I'm looking forward to a Cuban vacation next month.

The lack of American access means that the beautiful space between Pablo's taco stand and Jorge's shoe repair shop won't be sullied by a giant shiny McDonalds.

When you were skinnydipping, you didn't have a camera handy did you?

Brice said...

Oh, and I only obey the laws that seem sensible to me.

dawn said...

Usually it being a law or a rule to NOT do it is a pretty good reason for me to consider DOING it. Whatever it is. That's because I'm a child and don't like being told what I can't do.

Say hi to Fidel!