Third Degree

Bernard Walton and Eugene Meltsner are crossing Colorado when the thin mountain air leaves Bernard’s old pickup unable to travel faster than forty miles an hour. A police officer pulls Bernard over after radar clocks him at thirty-two on an interstate with a forty-mile-per-hour minimum. The officer explains that a slow vehicle can endanger other drivers and issues a citation. Bernard immediately suspects a tourist-trap scheme in which dishonest towns invent traffic laws to collect money. He refuses to pay and chooses a court appearance the following morning.

At the courthouse, Eugene points out that a hotel and meals may cost more than the fine, but Bernard insists that he is defending a principle. Bryant Jennings, a courthouse employee with interests much like Eugene’s, overhears them and suggests several legal precedents for Bernard’s defense. He and Eugene quickly become absorbed in discussing cases and theories far beyond Bernard’s understanding. Bryant then invites both travelers to spend the evening with a group of his friends.

Bernard reluctantly attends out of gratitude for Bryant’s help. He soon feels trapped in a room full of people who talk exactly like Eugene. Their elaborate jokes, philosophical conversation, unusual movie, trail mix, and enthusiasm for Eugene’s ukulele playing delight Eugene and exhaust Bernard. Eugene has never felt so immediately at home, while Bernard retreats to a corner and wonders whether anyone will leave him alone.

In traffic court the next morning, Bernard begins an elaborate argument based on the precedents Eugene has prepared. The judge repeatedly asks him to skip the legal history and simply explain what happened. Bernard admits that the truck cannot maintain the minimum speed at that altitude. The judge offers to dismiss the fine if Bernard has the vehicle adjusted before continuing, but Bernard refuses to pay for repairs when he is only passing through. The judge then requires both the repair and the fine. Bernard loudly accuses the court of operating a scam, insults the judge, and is found in contempt. The doubled fine and a sentence of up to seventy-two hours in jail replace what could have been a simple resolution.

Eugene asks Bryant for help, but Bernard can now leave only by paying. Bryant has more exciting news: his uncle’s nearby computer company has a programming opening and wants to meet Eugene. The opportunity would let Eugene live near people who appear to understand him perfectly. What began as a road trip suddenly offers the possibility of a new career and permanent home.

In jail, Bernard meets Stanley in the next cell. Stanley agrees that the traffic citation is part of a corrupt system and urges Bernard not to surrender. Thrilled to find support for his suspicions, Bernard resolves to wait out the authorities instead of paying. When Eugene visits and starts to mention his local job opportunity, Bernard is too focused on his stand to listen and tells him to enjoy life with his new friends.

Eugene returns to Bryant’s group, but the evening exposes an uncomfortable side of their sameness. A planned philosophical discussion ends almost instantly because every person agrees with the same theory. When Eugene asks for disagreement or debate, no one sees the need. Bryant then announces Eugene’s new job as though the decision has already been made. The group pressures Eugene to accept, dismissing his ties to Odyssey as childish emotion and insulting his friends there as small-minded people beneath his intellectual level. Their contempt helps Eugene see clearly. He says they have indeed helped him decide, then walks out.

Stanley’s companionship becomes equally revealing. He boasts that he has sacrificed his career, possessions, education, and time with his wife and children for a revolution against the entire system. When Bernard cannot name any principle larger than his wounded pride over a traffic ticket, Stanley challenges him either to join the revolution or admit the truth. Hearing Stanley repeat his own arguments in a far more extreme form shows Bernard what stubbornness has made him sound like. By the time Eugene returns, Stanley is trying to make Bernard pledge to remain in jail for a hundred years. Bernard abruptly abandons his stand and demands to leave.

Back on the road, both men admit that they have encountered disturbing reflections of themselves. Stanley’s pride and suspicion looked too much like Bernard’s, while Bryant’s group showed Eugene how shallow agreement can become when no one welcomes a different view. Eugene has turned down the computer job. For a short time, life among intellectual equals seemed like paradise, but he realizes that he values the varied people and real friendships of Odyssey.

Bernard has paid what is required, and Eugene once again takes charge of the map as the pickup continues west. Their clashing personalities may frequently irritate each other, but each man now understands that a good companion does more than echo his opinions. Sometimes the friend who thinks differently is the one who helps him see himself honestly.