Today I was unable to "pay the toll". I consider the only toll road in Raleigh to be the one in which our beltline intersects with Wake Forest Road and a homeless guy stands there collecting. Today the "toll taker" was a handsome, thin, short white man with a beard and a nice hat. He said, via cardboard signage, that he was a veteran. I was mortified I didn't have a dollar, which is what I consider a decent and appropriate toll. I was able to pull together four quarters, though (the beauty of the minivan) and had it ready to hand off.

Alas, I didn't get right in front of him and he wasn't walking, just sitting. So the pressures of traffic, of the car behind me, the pressures forced me to drive through and not pay.

I felt like I broke the law.