Po Po, Get Low!!!

Overall I would not claim to be a great driver. To be honest, I don't think I'd even claim to be a good one, but I've never hit a person or even an animal, and as deceiving as the HUGE scratch and dent down the driver side of the car may be, I've never even been in a real accident. Rubbing into a concrete pole in your own parking garage doesn't count as an accident, right? AND I have a perfect driving record. Not even a speeding ticket.

However, I have been pulled over 3 times in my life, the first of which may be the most humiliating event of my life. But as not many people were there to witness it (just Jennifer actually) I'd say that it probably can't compare to standing outside dressed as an alligator during a fire drill in high school. But anyway, here's the story. I had my license for only a few weeks and Jennifer and I were out some night (can't remember where we were going) when a policeman behind us turned on his lights. I was in the left lane and in order to get out of the way, I moved into the left turn lane. But then I panicked and decided I'd better move to the right after all. So I cut across 2 lanes of traffic (cutting off the cop on my way) to get to the right. Wasn't I surprised when the cop pulled up right behind me and got out of his car. I rolled down the window and he came and stuck stuck his huge Magnum PI mustache and 10 gallon hat inside my car and literally yelled, "Have you got a clue to life?" My response (after thinking inside my head--How should I answer? How should I answer?) "Um...yes?" I don't think he believed me because he questioned my knowledge right then and there. "What do you do when you see flashing lights?" My response "Move to the right." His very LOUD response-- "Yes! Move to the RIGHT. Not swerve all over the road." Okay, my bad. Then after cussing me out for a few seconds and a minute long rant about how women shouldn't be allowed to drive he went on to tell me that he was on his way to a stabbing victim when I cut him off. Okay. So then WHY IN THE WORLD DID HE STOP TO YELL AT ME? So I say something along the lines of, "I hope the guy's okay." Well, I don't think Mr. Po Po liked that response but he told me he'd let me off with a warning and then he got in his car and left. So while the whole episode proved that I'm an idiot, it didn't hurt my record.

The second time is hardly worth mentioning. I turned out of a Sonic parking lot without turning on my lights. As soon as I left the parking lot I realized that my lights were off and turned them on. A police officer pulled me over and came to my window to inform me that my lights hadn't been on. Okay, duh. That's why I turned them on. Warning. Move on.

Yesterday I got pulled over for the third time. But let me back up first. So over the Thanksgiving break someone stole the front license plate off the Jetta. Dustin Allison dropped by and Jared told him what happened. Dustin used to be a police officer, and he told us that we should report it because that kind of thing happens when people either don't want to pay their registration OR they want to commit a crime and don't want their own license plate on the getaway car. So a few days later, I called the police to report that our license plate was stolen. I was supposed to go down to the station and pick up the report the next day, but Luke and I were sick and that lasted for a week, so anyway, I didn't go down to the station until Monday, and I didn't have time to go to the DMV for new plates until yesterday. I was literally ON MY WAY TO THE DMV when a police officer pulled me over for having stolen plates on my car. Luckily it was the same officer who filed the report, so he didn't cuff me or anything. He just told me I need to get the back plate off my car ASAP. Now I have heard that the word ironic is often misused, but it fits in this situation, doesn't it? I mean --Really. I was EN ROUTE to getting rid of my stupid, illegal plate.

Oh, police officers and the drama they cause in my life.