It was a typical Friday morning. We were driving up the highway towards Plymouth, heading to visit my Nana. Jack was in the front-passenger seat, while Mike and I were in the back. I was listening to Green Day on my iPod, the volume turned up just enough to block out the noise of the traffic rushing by us outside.
Then, I heard my mom say something in the driver's seat in front of me. I didn't pay much attention to it. We were in the left lane of the highway, and my mom kept driving until she saw her chance to cross over to the right lane. It was when she pulled over to the breakdown lane that I took one of my ear buds out to ask what was going on.
My Mom was silent for a minute. Had the car broken down? Were we out of gas? Did we run over something?
Then, I saw someone walk by my window, and I realized he was a cop. That's when it hit me.
My mom had gotten pulled over.
He was fairly tall, dark skin, wearing a blue button-up tee shirt, along with black trousers, a police hat, and to top off the intimidating cop-look, a pair of large, dark sunglasses.
He cautiously approached the driver's window, most likely to make sure my mom wasn't some lunatic bearing a handgun, or some other type of weapon. Yeah, I thought, Like a married lady, with three children is prepared to attack a policed officer.
"The speed limit on this highway is 60 miles per hour," he told my mother in a deep voice.
"Okay," my mom replied, "What was I going?"
"Seventy-four," he said earnestly, all this time keeping a serious, no-bull face, behind those dark shades of his.
"Oh," was all mom could say.
"You were also driving in the left lane, which is strictly a passing lane."
"Okay," my mom agreed.
"Is speeding a habit for you?" he asked.
"No," my mom said, curiously.
"Is driving in the left lane a habit for you?"
"No," mom replied again.
"May I see your license and registration?" he requested.
Oh boy, I thought. Speeding ticket.
The police officer walked back to his cruiser to look up mom's record, and do the usual legal stuff cops do when they pull someone over. I've watched episodes of "Cops" with my dad before, and I pictured the officer talking to the camera guy, narrating the current situation at hand;
"We've got a typical soccer-mom here. She's showing signs of road-rage, which could explain the speeding. She's most likely in a hurry to get one of the three kids in the car to a practice, or something. I'll check her record, and then search the car for any cocaine, alcohol, or weapons, and probably give her a sobriety test as well. Just to be safe."
I then pictured him sending a message through his radio, requesting back-up in case "things got messy."
We waited for about five minutes, until he came back, holding some papers.
"Well," he said, "You haven't had a speeding citation since the nineties, which is good. But I did follow you for two miles in the left lane. Now, a ticket for driving in the left lane amounts to around one-hundred thirty dollars, but I've knocked it down to twenty dollars for you."
He continued to explain just how important it is to avoid staying in the left lane on the highway. As he did so, I tried to count the dozens of other cars on the highway that were driving in the left lane, most likely going seventy-plus mph.
After his speech was over, he directed mom to- and I quote- "Accelerate, get up to highway-speed, then verge over to the right lane."
Emphasis on "right".
I figured this guy took his job very seriously, and hadn't seen too much action in a while. I assumed he was clocking everyone's speed on the highway. Then, out of the hundreds of drivers going seventy mph. on the highway, he picked one car (in this case, a red Toyota Camry), and pulled it over, hoping to use up some of his tickets on some innocent citizens. Once he pulled mom over, he gave her the usual "Do-you-know-how-fast-you-were-driving?" lecture. Then, to add to the seriousness of the matter, he informs you that you have committed not just one misdemeanor, but two, and sucker-punches you with a twenty-dollar ticket for driving in the left lane.
Now, I'm not criticizing this guy for being a jerk, and ticketing my mom just because she was one of the many who were in the passing-only lane, but you gotta admit, it's kinda ridiculous. Her record is almost spotless (or so she tells me), with the exception of one or two minor speeding violations. You'd think the cop would let her off easy.
Have a great weekend, everyone. Drive safely.
Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.
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