Legal advice, Greek style

February 15. Day 230.

"What if something goes wrong? Can she drive it? What happens if the police pulls me over?"

These were Mr. A's questions to the guy renting us an ATV so we could explore the island. The whole set up seemed somewhat sketchy -- limited insurance, hand over driver's license as collateral, call the dude's cell if something went wrong, and then this:

"Listen," he said, and paused. "Who actually cares about the law? If you do something wrong and you get caught, yeah, you're in trouble. Like, don't drink and drive. But if you're driving and you break a law, or if she drives, and nothing bad happens, then who cares? Just don't crash it, and have fun!! Police here won't bother you."

"That's not how it is in America," I interjected. "In some towns they make big bucks off of speeding tickets from tourists."

"Don't worry. So, here's the contract. You need to bring it back by 5."

"Five???" I balked.

Already, I had the feeling he was giving us the "special tourist" price. 30€ per day. I was tempted to negotiate, but held back since I just didn't know the market. Yet now he expected us to pay for a full day and bring it back in six hours?

Time to ask -- er, insist...

"Five is much too early. Can we bring it back tomorrow morning?" I asked.

"Tomorrow? Why would you need it so long? It's not like you're going to ride around in the dark, are you?"

"Probably not. But what if we want to get dinner in a different town or take our time coming back?" Mr. A continued.

"Ok. I'll do 7."

"Later. We could get dinner somewhere, or ride around the port."

"Ok, fine. 10."

"Fine."

Gained: An ATV for a day. Here are few shots of the island, from the scooter.