.thank you, officer.

a story worth blogging...

i am driving to meet an old friend for lunch today. meeting time - noon. time of incident - 11:59. i'm on palm, which if you live in orange you know is the quasi-main drag to get you to chapman university or old town. now because it's main drag-ish, one would think the speed limit is 35 not 25, right? or perhaps one never looks at speed limits and drives however fast seems appropriate (not me, of course)...

so i'm blocks from my destination and look in my rear view mirror only to see a motorcycle cop with his lights flashing behind me. well let's just say, i'm pretty sure it was his second, at best third day on the job and i'm relatively certain that he assumed i was about 19 years old. he kept talking to me about the college students that go to my school and how dangerous it is to drive fast in a college neighborhood, where old people live as well. is 41 fast? not the last time i checked...

then he proceeds to hand me my ticket, tell me my driving record is clear and then this follows:

day 3 on the job cop: "have you ever gotten a ticket before?"
me: "yes i have"
day 3 on the job cop: "well this is your ticket and right here it says how fast you were going"
me: "thank you" (trying to grab the ticket from his hand and get on the road)
day 3 on the job cop: (with radar gun in hand) "now, this is radar, not laser and i can show you so that you don't think i'm lying - you were going 41, you see? 41."
me: "got it, i believe you. thanks."
day 3 on the job cop: "have you ever heard of traffic school?"
me: THOUGHT - "really? are you serious right now? have you ever heard that people don't like being made to feel like children and they also don't like to make small talk with cops who just cost them a couple hundred dollars?"
me: REAL WORDS - "yes sir, i've taken it before."
day 3 on the job cop: "well, if you take it, your ticket will be wiped off your record completely. like it never even happened. i think that'd be a really great option for you."
me: "your opinion is appreciated. thank you. have a great day."
day 3 on the job cop: saying something as i'm rolling up my window and pulling away - no clue what more was said, but it was likely profound and insightful.

seriously, the dude really wanted to chit-chat and i really wanted to go have lunch with my friend and be done with him. i mean, you'd think that at the police academy they teach you to get your business done and get on with your day. not so with this cat. he was one in a million.

so thank you, officer - for the 16 mile an hour over speeding ticket, for the 12 minute conversation, for making me feel 17 and for causing me to miss the first 14 minutes of lunch with my friend. thank you for all of that.