Close your eyes and imagine yourselves traveling forward in time many years. Now open them. What are you still doing reading this blog post? It’s been years!
In a time-jump justifying bit of luck, I managed to go through college without getting a single ticket, either because my newfound love of learning inspired me to untold heights of citizenry and obedience or because I didn’t yet own a horse-free motor buggy. But upon graduation, I was presented with my first car, a shining symbol of status that turned eyes and won hearts with its dent-ridden charms. Eventually, by the blessed hand of Chronos, the earth spun to September and I drove my new prize to San Luis Obispo, where Brian, the roommate, was taking 6 years to finish school.
My first Friday in town was shrouded in the hazy magic of heavy boozing. It was one of those calm nights when the wind rustles through the trees with the sound of uncertain beginnings, and the moon sparkles in the sky with unattainable majesty.
Also, my literally insane cousin needed to be picked up from the dorms because he’d spent the last few hours getting blitzed knitting a sweater and was thus unable to perform complex tasks like operating heavy machinery or speaking words. Unfortunately, the only place to stop my vehicle was inside this little cul de sac which clearly should not have been a fire lane. I figured I’d idle my car so that, should any fires choose this inopportune moment to ignite nearby, I could skedaddle in a jiffy.
The cousin had done so much knitting that he was at this point highly unreliable, so to pass the twenty minutes it took him to traverse two sets of stairs and a small lawn, I booted up the ever reliable Angry Birds.
Out of nowhere, a cop taps on my window, asks for license and registration. I immediately weep like a little girl, but the cop is immune! He starts to write the ticket, and I pray to the god of finance that I’d still be able to feed myself post-indictment. But before he can finish copying down my address, he gets a call.
Then, with barely controlled rage, the cop leans into my face, his beady eyes pinched into an expression halfway between disappointed foster parent and a crocodile that just lost a chunk of its tail.
When he spoke, I could feel the heat of his breath on my face. It smelled of donuts and a deeply buried insecurity.
Cop: “You’re lucky that these shit-for-brains college kids can’t handle themselves like adults,” he spat. “I have to go save some student who’s puking his guts out on the steps of the performing arts center before he chokes on his own vomit and his parents find themselves without a son.”
And with that he stormed to his car, slammed the door, and sped off, leaving me both taken aback, and, beneath the shock of his fury-speech, joyous.
Stay tuned for Day 3 of Cop Week, in which the daring Russ saves the day during a bank robbery when his pitiful cries wake up an unconscious security guard!
Reasonably Ludicrous 
Wow, that’s very fortuitous. Did you ever actually get in trouble?
And why on earth would someone make a cul de sac a fire lane?
I managed to avoid trouble that day, and I don’t know!
Love the cop stories and the artwork is amazing but, well, I’ll just say it, your writing style sort of pisses me off it’s so good. “The wind rustles through the trees with the sound of uncertain beginnings?”, “The moon sparkles in the sky with unattainable majesty?” Dammit…I was going to say that!
Haha. I basically just wait around reading your mind until something good pops up, then steal it for myself!
Whew! Did you have to mop up a puddle of sweat after that?
Yeah. It’s a good thing I keep a mop in my car!
Are you sure it was sweat you were mopping up?
Haha, I’m pretty sure my friend Billy got you out of a ticket! I’d thank him for you but his version of history omits this day.
LOL
How could that cop be immune to your little girl weeping? Has he no soul?
My friend has gotten out of a ticket by crying before. It sure does work sometimes.
I’ve NEVER gotten off with a warning before. I don’t get it, I cry and everything.
I don’t suppose he could have just asked you to move your car.
I know, right? I mean, I was idling so that I could leave quickly, so I obviously wasn’t causing any problems. I get the distinct feeling that cops just like giving out tickets.
Maybe he was hoping you’d make a run for it and he could “give chase.” That would have made his day!
Props for not mentioning the “Q” word there, Russ. 🙂
Man you are lucky! The best I’ve gotten was a reduced ticket maybe I should’ve cried???
The last sentence cracks me up. A lot.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s story! Good idea for this series. I have a few doozies from yesteryear..
BTW, that is so NOT fair.
I don’t know if I can talk about my run-ins with the cops yet… I might have to wait a few years. 🙂
He sounds like the cop that pulled me over recently and had no sympathy for the fact that I had only been driving for 5 minutes in a rental car and hadn’t even had a moment to get used to it. He gave me a huge speeding ticket that put a serious dent in my teacher’s salary.
“…and was thus unable to perform complex tasks like operating heavy machinery or speaking words.”
had me laughing… I love it.
In Australia you can pull over to take a call, put the car in park and turn the engine off, but if the keys are still in the ignition you’ll get booked for using your phone “whilst the vehicle is in operation”. It is pure and unadulterated evil. Glad you managed to buck the system, damn the man and rise against all in one puke-lucky sweep. The Gods of Someone Else’s Over Indulgence are strong with you.