"Well is it mine? How can I know I owe you something if I don't get the bill..." Then I noticed something else. "Hey, why should this one have an original tax of $3.30 on it when the tax on the other cycle is only $2.00?"

NOW CONVINCED he had an imbecile on his hands, the Deputy said, "This one was registered in July which is one month earlier than the other..."

"...which was registered in August. Yes, I know that; I registered them. But don't you see, the registration was transferred from the first to the second. If the charge from July to December is $3.30 and from August to December $2.00, then I should get $2.00 back on the first bike."

The bureaucratic mind strained, digging, not for an answer, but for the phrase from the statutes learned by rote for situations like this. "Well, if you wanted an abatement, you had to come in before June, 1968."

"But how could I, I didn't receive any notices before then. How could I ask for an abatement if didn't even know I was being taxed twice."

By this time, another portly type had materialized from behind that damn counter. A different approach: fatherly. He came up and, emphasizing his points with pats on the shoulder, issued the ultimate rebuttal. "Son, there are ten thousand every year who don't get their bill. So the Commonwealth passed a law requiring everyone to come in and ask for his bill. So you've got no legal leg to stand on. And if you don't pay, you can never register a vehicle here again."

After a few more minutes of generalized bitching, he noticed that a small crowd had gathered to watch the action. He looked like a student, and it was a helluva lot of fun watching one of them smart-ass Harvards get screwed.

He took one look around and decided it was time to stop providing free entertainment. So he scrawled a check, watched the stubby pencil OK the releases (which had to be mailed to the Registry, with $1 each). Then he strode down the hall and out the door.

And as he walked back up Mass Ave his mind played with the delightful image of City Hall exploding, belching yellow-orange-black flame-smoke from its windows, bloating at its middle, and then crumbling to the ground.