Stopped in Samoa on New Year's Eve, with no permit to show

Driving in Samoa needs a local permit, a temporary licence you are meant to
pick up once you land; your home licence on its own does not count. So we went
to get one, and discovered that the country had, briefly and literally, run out
of the card to print them on. There was no permit to be had, for us or for
anyone else.

We had landed after midnight, we had a rental car waiting and an island to see,
and there was nothing to be done about a shortage of paper. So we made the call
any honest traveller makes in the same spot, and drove without one. For days it
was a non-issue.

Then it caught up with us. Driving down to snorkel on New Year's Eve
afternoon, we came into a police checkpoint, the officers out ahead of the
night's celebrations and watching for anyone getting an early start. There was
nothing to do but pull in, very aware that the one document we did not have was
the one we were about to be asked for. They asked for the licence, and we
explained, a little sheepishly, that the office had run out of paper.

The officer kept a straight face and told us we were in serious trouble. Then
the joke landed: we were waved through, and wished a happy New Year. I took a
quieter road home afterwards, on the principle that you should never ask the
same patch of luck to turn up twice in one day.

Sort the permit if you can. If you cannot, a smile and an honest explanation go
a long way here.