Wait, Part 2? You can do that? Well, I figure that since it's
my blog, I can probably get away with making up the rules that go along with
it. Sorry if that comes across as a bit braggadocios but it is true.
It's especially relevant in this case because there was more
to the story after Ellie and I left Malachi's place on Tuesday afternoon. The
problem is that that blog post was already rapidly approaching that threshold
where folks would stop reading it because they likely had better things to do
with their time than read about my life. Man, it hurts when I have to tell
myself the truth like that. It's ok, I should be able to get over it. With
time.
Once Ellie and I left Malachi's on Tuesday, knowing that we
were beginning to run low on milk, Cheerios, chicken, and various other things,
I decided to make a quick detour by Sam's Club to pick those things up. Now,
it's important to note that Sam's isn't exactly close to Malachi's apartment.
Therefore, Ellie and I were in for a bit of a car ride.
The thing about plans is that they are made to be broken.
Before even five minutes had passed, Ellie was out cold in the back seat of my
RAV4. Believe me when I say the last thing in the world I wanted to do was wake
her up. Therefore, I made the decision Sam's could be put on hold. Instead, I
decided my time could be better spent just going on a little drive while Ellie
slept in the back seat.
Now, as you probably well know, this is something I do quite
often at this point. I find driving to be a peaceful and relaxing activity more
often than not. Obviously, that's not the case if I'm driving in downtown city
traffic. The rest of the time though, I'm perfectly happy to just hop behind
the wheel and see where it leads me. On this occasion, it led to me heading
north on North Oak Trafficway, beyond the turn to my house.
I hadn't even made it a quarter mile past the turn to my house when I heard a siren
accompanied by the unmistakable flash of police lights (aka blueberries and cherries for my friend, Tyler) in my rearview mirror.
You see, I had literally just entered a 1 mile stretch (maybe) on North Oak
where the speed limit drops from 40 to 30 mph. Coincidentally in that same
stretch, I passed a east-west road occupied by three motorcycle officers and
one squad car. I can't be overly positive but I think that might be the very
definition of a speed trap.
I pulled over onto a side street as soon as possible just to
make life a little easier on the officer pulling me over. As he headed to the
window, I glanced in the rearview mirror to see little Ellie still asleep,
thankfully. Now, I wanted to ensure that remained the case. Therefore, when the
officer came to the window, I already had my license and insurance ready. I
also motioned behind me and whispered I had a baby asleep in the baby seat and
would appreciate him being discreet.
Lucky for me, the officer was willing to oblige me on that
front as he took great care to make sure all of his interactions with me were
done in a hushed tone. Unlucky for me, he provided me with a $143 speeding ticket
as a parting gift; my first speeding ticket ever. And yes, for those wondering,
I am still ticked off about it! Doesn't 16 years of perfect driving record count for anything?
That being said, yes, I was breaking the law
(unintentionally) and deserved it. However, I can't say my interactions with
the officer were all bad. He cut me a break on giving me a lesser violation
than he could have. Therefore, I was certain to shake his hand and tell him I
appreciated it as he left. I even called his supervising officer later that day
to let him know how much I appreciated the professionalism his officer showed
in taking care to be courteous and respectful of Ellie's sleeping.
If I'm being totally serious though, a part of me really
wishes Ellie would have been screaming bloody murder when he pulled me over. I
feel like no cop on earth would give a ticket to a guy with a screaming baby.
Maybe that's silly of me to think but I'll always wonder.
Of course, I have to say I'll always wonder because I'm not
exactly keen to test that theory out by getting pulled over again anytime soon.
Anyone else want to test that for me? #DaddyWrite
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