Editorial July 14, 1997 Issue

Fighting forgetfulness

Russ Gerber

It was a normal and perfectly legal left turn. Still, the police officer had seen from a distance only part of the turn, and mistakenly concluded that my friend had broken a traffic law.

He tried to explain to the officer what had actually taken place, but it made no difference. His choice was either to pay a fine or take the matter to court. "Pay for what?" my friend silently objected. "I didn't do anything to deserve this." Although he knew it would come down to his word against the police officer's, and it would have been easier to pay the fine, my friend chose to fight the citation. He went to court a few weeks later, argued his case, and won.

The other day I recalled my friend's experience. Actually, it was his fighting spirit, his stand for innocence in the face of a false accusation, that came to mind. I had just overheard a conversation in which a woman said she had completely forgotten something, and that it wasn't the first time this had happened. "I'm getting old. My memory's not what it used to be," she confided to her friend. The other woman said she understood, adding that it was such a shame that at some point people start to lose their memory. The women then went on their way.

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