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I experienced corruption and had to bribe an officer. This was more than 20 years ago. I hope you find my tale interesting as an example how bribery is executed

I experienced corruption and had to bribe an officer. This was more than 20 years ago. I hope you find my tale interesting as an example how bribery is executed exactly, even if you are clueless like me. I was in Romania to watch the solar eclipse of there. Then we started our itinary back home. About one kilometer before the border to Hungary we were stopped by the police. It was very flat and the road very straight. We already could see the border post in the distance. The officer seemed friendly and beckoned me to get out of the car. I got off and he wanted to look at the trunk. I opened it and I showed him our gear, two tents, sleeping bags, clothes, some food and it took the time. He was very friendly, like an older uncle of you. He wanted to look at our papers again and when I passed him my passport he made a gesture, he put the flat hand between two pages. After some time I suddenly realized that he wanted to be bribed. Duh! Then I said, sorry no more Romanian Lei, but we have Hungarian Forint, and he nodded eagerly. So I said, just a moment please and took back my passport then I did some calculation in my head. I decided to give him $20 worth in Forint and put the notes in the passport and gave him the passport back. He was happy and gestured that we can continue. Just to know, this was only two years after the fall of Ceausescu. We drove away. Slowly just to give him the feeling that he has the situation in control. We expected to wait about 15 minutes at the border post, as it already happened when we entered Romania. But when we slowly cruised to the post, another officer appeared and beckoned us through. We overtook about four cars. I didn't plan to but we got VIP treatment. Today I think I shouldn't have bribed the officer. However I was completely clueless and I had a good rapport with the officer and I just wanted to help him and us. I still don't know what I should have done.

kingcharles 5y ago
I was in Hungary once, very late at night, in the middle of nowhere (long story), about 20 years ago. Ended up in the back of a police van. Turned out they just wanted to shake me down for money. Made the universal gesture of rubbing fingers. Showed him my wallet - empty. Very mad. Gave me a piece of paper in about 15 languages that said I was permanently banned from entering Hungary and then threw me out of the van.
lukebuehler 5y ago
Similar story going into Syria, just before the war: we were at the Turkey-Syria border, trying to cross into Syria, and the Syrian border police decided to search all our belongings, including our wallets. Two hours later we got the visa, but it just happened to cost exactly as much as all the money we had on us.
- _nalply 5y ago
  Interesting. Your example shows that bribery can be executed even without cooperation by the bribers.
  - eloisant 5y ago
    I'm not sure if this should be called bribery or extortion.
    - Cthulhu_ 5y ago
      It's a very small difference to be honest.
    - lukebuehler 5y ago
      Perhaps, but I categorized it as bribery: pay some money to cross this or that hurdle. We did not _have_ to go to Syria, as we are just tourists. But I had no hard feelings; we anticipated something like this, and considering that it was only about a $100, in retrospect, I'm very, very glad I got to see the country before the war.
- vijaybritto 5y ago
  That's extortion isn't it?
inglor 5y ago
You (unfortunately) did the right thing and this is (unfortunately) still common in several Eastern European countries (and elsewhere for example certain areas in India and LATAM) especially outside the central areas. I actively avoid trips/routes that take me through areas where bribing is necessary. As for "what happens if I refuse" - in anecdotal experience: - I've seen friends arrested/detained until they paid up (happened 3-4 times). - I've seen officials attempting to take a bribe "give up" when we acted confused (1-2 times). - I've seen officials invent very creative excuses about a "EU tax" or "foreigner tax" or "special foreigner tickets". I want to say this is amusing but honestly the situation is always terrifying and unclear and I actively avoid places with corruption when picking my tourist destinations.
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  Tangentially related, but "what happens if I refuse" is a thing with US tipping culture as well. I was at a bar once during a conference, I didn't realize you're supposed to tip the waitress at every drink you order. That was not ideal. I mean on the one side I'm cringing with embarrassment, on the other... the fuck?
  - luxuryballs 5y ago
    I always just tip once early on, but I make it fat, they’ll remember you.
    - mywacaday 5y ago
      That works really well in Vegas, I tipped $5 on our first drink and then $1 per drink there after, the drinks are free while you are gambling. Our server made sure to get us another drink before she finally shed her shift and our glasses were never empty. This was about 10 years ago.
      - foxtrottbravo 5y ago
        Excuse the maybe ignorant question, but I have no feeling for the prices: is this 1$ Tip on a 3$ beer or more like 1$ tip on a 15$ cocktail?
okl 5y ago
Thanks for your story. McAfee has written an extensive guide on how it works in central America: https://www.whoismcafee.com/the-travel-guide/ https://www.whoismcafee.com/the-travel-guide/
- ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
  Wow. That is one FUGLY site. Cynical, but spot-on. The world became a bit darker (but also more sane), when McCafee died.
- _nalply 5y ago
  > At the lower levels, however, the system contains an element of grace and humanity, and this lower lever is all that most people will ever encounter. Hah. Now I stopped wondering about the friendliness of the officer.
- _nalply 5y ago
  > So to give more than is reasonable is a crime against humanity. Yes, I thought about it. I tried to estimate the salary of the police officer and wanted to give him enough, but not too much. It was a difficult decision and I took some time to think this through, about one minute, but he was very patient. We had about $150 worth in Forint in the car and he saw the notes when I took out the $20. Probably $20 was on the high end, but not so much because it seems he shared the gain with his colleagues. It seems that we were lucky. And that's why corruption is bad. It creates wrong incentives and loss of security.
- Tepix 5y ago
  Thanks. Great resource.
4ad 5y ago
Minor nit. Ceaușescu was removed in 1989, the eclipse was in 1999, 10 years later, not two years. In 2022 small time corruption in Romania is still a big problem.
- _nalply 5y ago
  Sorry, thanks for the correction!
PaulHoule 5y ago
I saw that solar eclipse from this place in Bulgaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Beach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Beach I had no trouble w/ the police in any country but the train conductor wanted a bribe upon entering Romania and we wound up spending an extra night in a small town because the train schedules were screwed up thanks to the war in Yugoslavia. Instead of staying in a hotel we spent that night on our feet talking to some kid who was making fun of our Romanian money and then I passed out when I drank a 7-up after getting out of a hot and crowded train in Varna.

kingcharles 5y ago

I was in Hungary once, very late at night, in the middle of nowhere (long story), about 20 years ago. Ended up in the back of a police van. Turned out they just wanted to shake me down for money. Made the universal gesture of rubbing fingers. Showed him my wallet - empty. Very mad. Gave me a piece of paper in about 15 languages that said I was permanently banned from entering Hungary and then threw me out of the van.

lukebuehler 5y ago

Similar story going into Syria, just before the war: we were at the Turkey-Syria border, trying to cross into Syria, and the Syrian border police decided to search all our belongings, including our wallets. Two hours later we got the visa, but it just happened to cost exactly as much as all the money we had on us.

_nalply 5y ago
Interesting. Your example shows that bribery can be executed even without cooperation by the bribers.
- eloisant 5y ago
  I'm not sure if this should be called bribery or extortion.
  - Cthulhu_ 5y ago
    It's a very small difference to be honest.
  - lukebuehler 5y ago
    Perhaps, but I categorized it as bribery: pay some money to cross this or that hurdle. We did not _have_ to go to Syria, as we are just tourists. But I had no hard feelings; we anticipated something like this, and considering that it was only about a $100, in retrospect, I'm very, very glad I got to see the country before the war.
vijaybritto 5y ago
That's extortion isn't it?

inglor 5y ago

You (unfortunately) did the right thing and this is (unfortunately) still common in several Eastern European countries (and elsewhere for example certain areas in India and LATAM) especially outside the central areas. I actively avoid trips/routes that take me through areas where bribing is necessary. As for "what happens if I refuse" - in anecdotal experience: - I've seen friends arrested/detained until they paid up (happened 3-4 times). - I've seen officials attempting to take a bribe "give up" when we acted confused (1-2 times). - I've seen officials invent very creative excuses about a "EU tax" or "foreigner tax" or "special foreigner tickets". I want to say this is amusing but honestly the situation is always terrifying and unclear and I actively avoid places with corruption when picking my tourist destinations.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago
Tangentially related, but "what happens if I refuse" is a thing with US tipping culture as well. I was at a bar once during a conference, I didn't realize you're supposed to tip the waitress at every drink you order. That was not ideal. I mean on the one side I'm cringing with embarrassment, on the other... the fuck?
- luxuryballs 5y ago
  I always just tip once early on, but I make it fat, they’ll remember you.
  - mywacaday 5y ago
    That works really well in Vegas, I tipped $5 on our first drink and then $1 per drink there after, the drinks are free while you are gambling. Our server made sure to get us another drink before she finally shed her shift and our glasses were never empty. This was about 10 years ago.
    - foxtrottbravo 5y ago
      Excuse the maybe ignorant question, but I have no feeling for the prices: is this 1$ Tip on a 3$ beer or more like 1$ tip on a 15$ cocktail?

okl 5y ago

Thanks for your story. McAfee has written an extensive guide on how it works in central America: https://www.whoismcafee.com/the-travel-guide/ https://www.whoismcafee.com/the-travel-guide/

ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
Wow. That is one FUGLY site. Cynical, but spot-on. The world became a bit darker (but also more sane), when McCafee died.
_nalply 5y ago
> At the lower levels, however, the system contains an element of grace and humanity, and this lower lever is all that most people will ever encounter. Hah. Now I stopped wondering about the friendliness of the officer.
_nalply 5y ago
> So to give more than is reasonable is a crime against humanity. Yes, I thought about it. I tried to estimate the salary of the police officer and wanted to give him enough, but not too much. It was a difficult decision and I took some time to think this through, about one minute, but he was very patient. We had about $150 worth in Forint in the car and he saw the notes when I took out the $20. Probably $20 was on the high end, but not so much because it seems he shared the gain with his colleagues. It seems that we were lucky. And that's why corruption is bad. It creates wrong incentives and loss of security.
Tepix 5y ago
Thanks. Great resource.

4ad 5y ago

Minor nit. Ceaușescu was removed in 1989, the eclipse was in 1999, 10 years later, not two years. In 2022 small time corruption in Romania is still a big problem.

_nalply 5y ago
Sorry, thanks for the correction!

PaulHoule 5y ago

I saw that solar eclipse from this place in Bulgaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Beach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Beach I had no trouble w/ the police in any country but the train conductor wanted a bribe upon entering Romania and we wound up spending an extra night in a small town because the train schedules were screwed up thanks to the war in Yugoslavia. Instead of staying in a hotel we spent that night on our feet talking to some kid who was making fun of our Romanian money and then I passed out when I drank a 7-up after getting out of a hot and crowded train in Varna.