I was pulled over last night. For the first time in over ten years. I’ve been pulled over for some pretty ridiculous things, once for fighting with my then boyfriend so loud I couldn’t hear the police officer behind me tell me to slow down, once twice in the same day for having expired tags. I had the updated tags with me in the car, I was just too lazy to wash the spot and stick those suckers on there. My dad still tops the pulled over twice in one day story though (for not wearing his seatbelt). Once I was pulled over for not completing a left hand turn from the turn lane and pulling back into regular traffic. The cop that got me came out of a donut shop. I’m just saying.
There’ve been plenty of times when I should’ve been pulled over also. I’ve broken a few laws behind the wheel and while I’m not proud of it, I can mention it now because it was so long ago. Back when I was young and reckless. Now I’m not quite so young, a mother and currently pregnant. Today for me a big deal is crossing a couple lanes on the freeway, especially if I don’t have my blinker on (which I only do if there aren’t any cars behind me).
Anyway, tangent! This time takes the cake. I had a long day at work and at 7 months pregnant, was not in the mood for any bs. I wanted to get home and quick and all I saw in front of me on the freeway were brake lights. I exited and took a different route home to keep things interesting. Sitting at a green light waiting to turn left, I wondered why no one was passing me from behind. And then it was like a moment of synchronicity – three things happened simultaneously. In the space it took me to wonder why no one was passing me, I prepared to complete my turn and just happened to notice there was a police officer two cars behind me. As I put two and two together, in the middle of making my turn, I saw the sign over the traffic light – NO TURNING BETWEEN 5 – 7 PM. I quickly checked my clock - it was 6:52 pm. And then I heard the siren.
He walked up and asked if I knew why he’d pulled me over and that’s when it happened. One tear rolled down from underneath my sunglasses. Then another. And another one. Before I knew it, they were free falling and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop them. I was mortified! I am not a big crier, never have been, and to be completely unable to stop crying in the middle of having to act like an adult and talk to a police officer was one of the most embarrassing things ever. To add to it, I had just paid off my car (YAY!) and so didn’t have an updated registration card to hand him. He took pity on me and went back to the cruiser. I desperately tried to control myself and stop crying.
At this point I had been sitting in the car over an hour and my back was hurting so I asked his partner for permission to stand on the sidewalk (I don’t mess around with men that have guns) and PO #1 came back. He kindly requested me to calm down (picture a big fat 7 month pregnant woman unable to stop a gentle flow of tears standing on the sidewalk) and made small talk for a minute before informing me my license had expired. WHAT! My jaw dropped and the tears immediately started flowing again much to my dismay. No, I was not aware of that Officer, again much to my dismay. That’s what I get for forgetting to update my address with the dmv. My license had expired almost three full months earlier and I’d had no idea. So he cited me (!) for running the left turn against the sign and having an expired license and told me not to take it too hard. They’d impounded the last guys car.
And those are my tax dollars hard at work. I love the police. I really do. I appreciate how they put their lives on the line every day for me and people I love. But really, this quota business has got to stop. No I don’t have proof that they have to meet a traffic ticket quota but if you’re a police officer working in LA and you can’t give a pregnant gal a break every now and again with all of the seriously hard criminals and thugs out there, that’s just wrong. Go cite a bad guy, I’m just trying to get home to see my family after a long day of work. Hey, at least my tags were up to date.
No comments:
Post a Comment