<p>The following website was listed in the NYT today - [I</a> PAID A BRIBE | Uncover the Market Price of Corruption](<a href=“I Paid A Bribe”>http://ipaidabribe.com/).</p>
<p>Additionally, I just finished reading “Behind The Beautiful Forevers: life, death and hope in a Mumbai undercity”, by Katherine Boo. This is a non-fiction account of exactly what the title says, or a reporting of what was partially portrayed in “Slumdog Millionaire”.</p>
<p>Much of this book reminded me of ordinary life in America. </p>
<p>So, have you ever paid a bribe? What and to whom? What country? What city or state?</p>
<p>oddly, not only have I never paid a bribe, I’ve never been asked to pay a bribe, and I’ve never had anyone talk about being asked to pay a bribe, either. But, a lot of bribery is “normed” into the system as campaign contributions and tips to maitre d’s, and whatnot. So, I’ve never paid a bribe, but I have made campaign contributions and tipped maitre d’s, etc…</p>
<p>However, I have been shaken down for money by the police in Buenos Aires, who pulled over anything resembling a rental car and took the contents of travelers’ wallets with ease.</p>
<p>Yes, crossing borders in the third world requires a bribe. The ‘border’ guards are very well off! </p>
<p>Once when living in Chicago, I overheard a conversation in our apartment stairwell where a woman working for the cable company was bribing a tenant. The cable woman said she had reason to believe the tenant was stealing a signal or had more than one TV hooked up (can’t remember the details), but the tenant would not be reported if she paid the cable person a sum of money.</p>
<p>Costa Rica - best friend (a lawyer) described frequent, sporadic, unannounced court “fees” during an 8-month adoption process to finally release the baby. All payable to various lawyers and judges. She said that was just their system.</p>
<p>This was recently discussed on a morning radio show. Apparently you can bribe your way into first class on airplanes. People were also discussing bribing their way into big sporting events like the world series.</p>
<p>I would even feel too awkward trying to slip a few dollars to a Maitre d’ for a quick table. I can’t imagine offering an actual bribe for something.</p>
<p>My DH has worked for companies where they have to provide a driver who arranges to pay the necessary “fees” to travel safely in that country. Call it what you may- its a bribe. Stinks, IMO. But I want my DH safe and sound.</p>
<p>Never had to pay a bribe. Someone offered me one though. I had just received a graded paper in a class. After the class, someone offered to pay me for my paper. I assume that he saw the grade on my paper and hadn’t handed it in and was going to copy it or do something similar. This was some 30 years ago.</p>
<p>^^^I once had a paper stolen. Apparently I got an A on it. The professor left all the papers on the table in front of his office so the students could pick them up. Mine was missing. The professor assumed someone stole it, since I got a good grade.</p>
<p>And No, I’ve never paid a bribe, except – as Zoosermom said – to my children.</p>
<p>Years back, a friend helped my ex do the electrical work for a family room. We were told by the friend that we’d have to pay the electrical inspector to install something as part of the renovation, or he might not sign off on the work.</p>
<p>When we lived in a country in the middle east, it was almost impossible to get things done without small bribes. We didn’t do it ourselves, but it was done on our behalves - to get a drivers licence, to park the car (me to driver as a policeman smiled and waved at us as we left a very hard to come by parking spot “friend of yours?”, driver to me “very good friend, 2 dollars”) - stuff like that. When I needed to get my finger prints made for a visa application, I went to the police station numerous times and just could not get it done until a local friend came and gave the equivalent of about a dollar to someone (did you know you can use gasoline to wash off finger print ink? neither did I until the policeman with the cigarette in his mouth poured gasoline on my hands). </p>
<p>When we first moved there, our home there was near a popular club (pool, tennis - not dancing) and some local boys would park peoples cars for them. They wanted us to pay them to NOT park people across our driveway. i wouldn’t out of principal and wasted a lot of hours standing at my window like some cranky old biddy and yelling at them not to park the cars there. Would have been so much easier just to give them the bribe (about 50 cents). </p>
<p>The term I heard used for the person who did the bribing for the foreign companies was “expediter”</p>
<p>The bribes I’ve paid overseas are for things like getting a drivers license, tax assessor, etc. The bribes I’ve seen consumated in the US are events like Pharmas sponsoring a seminar for docs in Myrtle Beach, a politician receiving PAC money, a … WAIT - these are not bribes - this is good honest money being spent.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, Sam Lee. The complete list (it is worth looking at the link) include many African, South and Central America, Middle Eastern Countries, Somalia, Burma and Afghanistan being the most corrupt.</p>
<p>In the book Beautiful Forevers, corruption is perpetrated at every level, with the most destitute being the ultimate victims. Victimization occurs from the wealthiest to the poorest, with government corruption being particularly noteworthy. It involved the police, prisons and courts, as well as government money intended to subsidize the needy, but stolen by the middlemen. </p>
<p>Areas most exploited or involved in exploitation included land, transportation, schools, hospitals, recyclables, garbage, cement, construction, prostitution, farming, insurance, etc. Sound familiar? I don’t remember utility corruption being mentioned, but the Enron scandal involved India. The utility corruption has to be tied into the airport.</p>
<p>What are your locally paid bribes to government? I can think of many.</p>