Have you noticed how the gardai have been in good humour recently, or have you escaped with only a light chastisement for an offence which might otherwise have resulted in a big fine?
Have you encountered any other signs like unusual acts of generosity or sudden affluence on the part of the upholders of the law?
The smiles and the money are nothing to do with lottery wins or mass bribery. The cause of all this Garda happiness is back pay, almost three years' worth, amounting in many officers' pay packets to £3,000 or more in the past two weeks.
The back-pay bonanza is the first fruit of the widespread industrial action by members of the force in the history of the State. The marching and "blue flu" days are paying off for the members who took to the streets or - in the case of the mass call-ins over alleged sickness - stayed off the streets.
Last Thursday week the first batch of back-pay bonuses were paid to the 8,000 members of garda rank whose staff association, the Garda Representative Association (GRA), led the campaign for pay increases like those given to other public sector groups such as nurses and prison officers.
According to a brief survey of members of garda rank around the country Dublin officers in receipt of heavy overtime and other allowances did best, many receiving over £3,000. Around the State the average seemed to be about £2,000 or slightly less.
On Thursday it was the turn of middle management, the 2,500 members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI). Operational inspectors, particularly those in busy Dublin stations with high levels of crime and consequently high levels of overtime, are reckoned to have done best of all, with some allegedly receiving more than £4,000.
All these officers have benefited from the back-pay provision of the pay settlement dating from July 1996, based on a 4.5 per cent provision to July 1997 and a further 4.5 per cent from then to the present.
The pay settlement, which means rises of between 9 per cent and 13.5 per cent, also came into effect in the past two weeks, so officers' ordinary pay is also up.
The force has also had to put up with very few changes in working or staffing arrangements, as might be expected in a private sector concern where such pay increases occurred.
The official side appears to have agreed the pay rises without the implementation of any of the significant "productivity" factors like station closures or changes to rostering. These still have to be agreed.
Also, the pay rises were included as part of the previous public sector pay round, the PCW. They have yet to agree to any of the rises offered under Partnership 2000.
The only group not to have made hay in the past fortnight are the Garda bosses, the superintendents and chief superintendents who are still engaged in working out details of increases and incrementals.
So, until the back-pay money runs out entirely, you may still have a chance to park in ostentatious defiance of the restrictions and avoid that fine or surly caution. But don't bank on it.