How Far Do You Go . . .?

Living in a country like Bolivia where corruption and unofficial ways of doing things are an ingrained part of the system, the question always comes up - how far do you go in participating in it all? What can you do or not do with regards to maintaining a positive Christian testimony, especially considering that our name is the Bolivian HOLINESS Mission in Spanish.

Now the purist will probably say ( and I might have said this before coming to Bolivia) that you should not participate in any of it and should strive to keep the letter of the law to the full in all situations. In practice that means never giving money to a policeman on the street even though he demands it. It means making sure that your domestic help is paying its taxes on what they earn from you. It means always asking for an official receipt for everything you buy, every repair job that is done, every doctor, dentist visit that is performed.

The other extreme will probably say, Hey, just do as the Bolivians do. When in Rome . . . .

For me the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle, but where? I try not to give money to policemen who pull me over but to expect them to give me a written ticket that I will then go and pay. But that doesn't always work out - like the time they stopped me, not because I was doing anything wrong but because they were swelling tickets to a benefit concert for the police department and would not let me go until I bought a full ticket (I offered to give a donation but that was not good enough). I don't demand official receipts from repairmen and servicemen but I do expect them for major purchases in stores and generally take them when offered in restaurants. What about driver's licenses? That is really the point of these musings. I am in the process of renewing my license. When I went to the police department to do it, I was caught off guard when the officer told me I had to take a test. Tests have never, to my knowledge, been required for renewing licenses before. His question was Do you want to take it directly or do you want me to take it for you for a few. . .? So, how should I answer? (By the way, I found out later that the test thing may not be true but a ploy to get money - but even that is not certain.)

I will leave this post at that. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think I should do. I will try to remember to fill you in on next week's post.

To end on a lighter note - I saw a kid uptown wearing a tee shirt that said in English (he probably did not know what it said) The Perfect Partents: No homework until your video games are finished!