policed

i came back from a few days of vacation last week. due to circumstances beyond my control, i arrived home very late on wednesday night. after oh, about 3 hours of sleep, i had to get up and go to work the next day. i was very tired. i was also running late, and on top of that, i had to stop for gas. on top of that, my mom (who usually takes my kids to summer camp) was out of town, so i had to take my daughter all the way to elkton, md, before driving to work in wilmington, de. ..*plus* there was no food in the house, 'cause i'd been away for a week, so i had to stop off at wawa for breakfast and lunch food for my daughter...

so yeah, i guess i was in kind of a hurry...

then driving up rt 13 through dover, i notice something weird. there are these 2 guys standing in the middle of the highway waving to me....

crap, they are wearing police uniforms, aren't they? *%$#@! !!.

i pull off the highway and stick my license & registration out the window. as i do, i notice that, *&$%#@ again, my insurance card is expired.

the cop arrives at my window and asks me the million dollar question...do i know why he pulled me over? um, i'm not 100% sure, but i can venture an educated guess...(do they ever give a prize for correct answers to that question?)

what a slap in the face, back to reality. i'm not on vacation anymore.

while the cop is doing his thing behind me, i call my boss to let her know i'll definitely be late now...the cop returns to my window to inform me that he's graciously knocked down my speed from ~15 over the limit to *only* 5 over. I've gotten enough speeding tickets in my lifetime to know they always do that... am i really expected to be grateful?? oh yeah, and it's a mandatory court appearance 'cause of the expired insurance card...wonderful. i get on my way, now later than ever...

so now fast forward to the very next morning....

same basic scenario...i was so tired last night that i didn't do any grocery shopping. my youngest wanted to go to pizza hut for dinner and (since i felt guilty for going away for a few days and leaving her with grandparents), i indulged her. so i need to stop at wawa again for food. i take rt 1 up north to avoid yesterday's speed trap. i'm making pretty good time, heading up otts chapel road, almost to the kids' camp in elkton....when suddenly i spot a cop on the side of the road. i instinctively slow down, although i really wasn't going very fast to start with. but *&^%$$#!! the guy pulls out after me! what is up with the cops this week?? it's only the first week in august so it's not like they're panicking to meet their quota or whatever...

i pull over and i'm not feelin happy. i mean, who gets 2 tickets in 2 days??? there should be a clause prohibiting you from getting another ticket within so many days of the first one...or something.

i hand the guy my registration and yeah, the same expired insurance card from yesterday. crap. then i'm fumbling through my purse. can't find my license for some reason. i wonder if the cop from yesterday accidentally forgot to give it back?? this cop apparently hasn't had his coffee and doughnuts yet today...he's obviously feelin kinda grumpy. he makes some remark like,"do you even have a license??"

that's about all i can take. i start throwing things out of my purse onto the floor of the car. finally i locate the elusive license. yeah, i've got a freaking license...

i call my boss *again* to tell her what's goin on. i'm clearly freaking out/sobbing/hyperventilating/etc on the phone. she's not used to hearing me like that...i'm usually much more...collected. but it's been a long time since i've allowed myself a good cry. apparently, today's the day.

the cop returns to my window and announces that he's been so wonderful as to knock my speed down from the insane 11 mph over the limit i was going (61 in a 50) down to a mere 5 over.

oh, i guess he was he expecting a hug or something???

i'm still sobbing a little as i'm signing the ticket. i guess he felt a little bad for me or whatever, since i was obviously taking this whole ticket thing kinda hard. he asks if i'm late for work....i can't even answer him...i just bust out bawling out loud. he just kinda shakes his head and walks away back to his patrol car.

i can just hear the stories he'll exchange later at the dunkin doughnuts about the emotional trainwreck he pulled over that morning...

i don't care though. it's pretty funny now, looking back. i'm not usually so...emotionally volatile. it kinda felt nice to just let someone have it instead of faking a smile and acting polite or whatever.

so a couple days later, i'm taking my daughter to camp. we are stopped at a red light. my daughter looks around, sees that we are stopped and asks me, very serious, "mommy, are we policed again??"

i laugh and explained to her that no, we are just stopped at a red light...