Collateral

Story told by a friend, a foreigner:

The NGO where she works is testing a used car that they might buy. The car has no license plates. Right away, she and her driver are stopped by the police (unarmed, on foot, a traffic cop). The officer says, "I will impound this car!" My friend says, "No, you will not! We are in a hurry, doing important business!"

The policeman states rightly, "Madame, in your country, you know that a car found driving without license plates would be impounded immediately!

A heated discussion takes place between her driver and the policeman, with my friend waiting in the car. Eventually, her driver comes back and says, "It's okay, we can go. I left him my phone. I will come back and get it later."