What Goes Up...

Birthday and traffic tickets... do these two things go together? I don't really think they are supposed to. However, in my world, they do.

I was driving home from WORK last night, (and I want to emphasize that I was working on my b-day as well), when I approached my home and I looked into my rear view mirror, only to see those dreaded headlights that we can all recognize as a police officer's vehicle headlights, and as I turned to park those infamous red and blue flashing lights flipped on as I almost knew they were going to.

I rolled down my window and began the whole process of politely asking what the problem was and hoping that my birthday was going to get me out of a ticket. Well, it didn't. I actually acquired two tickets, in fact, and I won't go into details but let's just say that it was all I could do to abstain from becoming the "bad cop" in this situation. It was almost like this police officer was trying to teach me a lesson because I should "know better" and it his his solemn duty to make sure that I don't commit another offense again based on his actions this night.

Nothing was going to save me from these tickets, not a birthday, not batting my eyelashes, not being a fellow law enforcement officer... nothing.

I can't help but wonder how that situation could have went differently. What could I have said to make that officer give me a break? The answer is, nothing. He wanted to do what he did so he did it. It is just that simple. I think that people over analyze these situations a little too much, trying to get a break when it really has nothing to do with their powers of persuasion. There are too many other factors involved.

What happened last night really upset me. I just couldn't believe that such a thing could happen on a day when nothing is supposed to go wrong. Now I have to get a lawyer, explain to my employer why I incurred to traffic violations, pay fines that I can't really afford (who can?), and catch up on the sleep I lost over this last night. Today, I felt and feel much better. I think it was partially that when I looked into my future I could see hundreds of dollars bursting into flames and the look of marked disdain on my boss' faces when I am telling them about this incident. As time moves along I realize that the situation really isn't that intense. After all, my violations weren't serious, not criminal and nothing that will be held against me long term so long as I handle them in a timely and appropriate manner.

One thing that I will do is probably give that next person a break, in lieu of the break I did not receive on my birthday. Sometimes mercy is something that you can pay forward even when you didn't receive it but wish that you had.