STOPPED BY A COP

Yup, it happened. I was stopped by a cop Thursday, April 17, 2008 at, or around 4:00 p.m. in Loa, Utah. I have not been stopped by a cop in 25 or 30 years. It may be longer than that. This is only the fourth time I’ve ever been stopped by a cop. I have received two speeding tickets (one of which I should have gone to court and fought because I think it was bogus). The third time I was stopped I guess I was speeding but I didn’t know it because the speedometer didn’t indicate that I was speeding. You see, Jack had just put BIG tires on the pick-up I was driving and when you change the size of the tires from what they were when you bought the vehicle your speedometer doesn’t accurately tell you how fast you are going. The officer asked me if I knew I was speeding and I told him that I didn’t. I rarely ever went more than a couple of miles over the speed limit. Fortunately, Patti was with me that day. She spoke right up and said, “My mother never speeds! She’s the most boring driver I know.” The officer laughed and said, “Okay, I believe you.” Then he looked at me and told me that I’d better have the speedometer checked.

Okay, so those are my experiences with being stopped by cops. But let me start at the beginning. Yesterday was a gorgeous day and quite warm. A nurse had called and told me that Jack’s and my prescriptions were ready to be picked up (for Medicare, Part D). I told Jack I needed to go get them and asked him if he’d like to ride along. He said, “Sure.” We drove over to the clinic in Bicknell. I ran in, well, actually, I walked as fast as I could, and when I got back in the van I asked Jack if he’d like to see the campground where Juli and her sisters and their families and I had enjoyed an Easter picnic. (Jack didn’t want to go to the picnic but I went, anyway and had an absolutely delightful time.) He said he’d like to see the campground so I drove over there. It was just a couple of miles away. It’s a really nice campground and the hills were wonderful for the kids to roll their Easter eggs. After that, I drove around the new Wayne County Community Center so he’d know where I go when I help out at the Senior’s lunches. He had never been there, either.

We left Bicknell on our way back to Loa and Jack asked if we could take the “Big Rocks Road” past the airport---so we did. Just as we were getting back to town on the Big Rocks Road, Jack said, “What is that big metal building over there?” I said, “Let’s go see.” I knew what it was but we were in no particular hurry and he was really enjoying the drive so I signaled for a left-hand turn. The cop was stopped at a stop sign on the right side of the road. I turned left and drove up the street and turned right at the next corner in order for Jack to see what the building is. As I approached the street in front of the building I signaled for a right-hand turn, braked slightly and turned the corner. That was when I realized the cop was still following me and he had his lights flashing. I immediately pulled over and stopped. I watched him in the outside mirror and I didn’t recognize the face so I knew he wasn’t the Sheriff. When he got to my door he looked in the said, “Do you know that one of your brake lights isn’t working?” I replied, “No, I didn’t know that.” He said, “Yes, the brake light on the driver’s side is not working.” “Well, I’d better call Gary (Brian Auto) and get it taken care of,” I said.
And he said, “Yeh, you could call Gary or you could just have Tal replace the bulb.” I laughed, because then I knew that he knew who we are even though we didn’t know who he is.

Now, is that the cutest, or what? It is very comforting to know, at our age, that someone is looking out for us and it’s not necessarily our immediate family doing it all of the time. I love that part of living in a small town. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of anything I don’t like about living in a small town. Of course, I was raised in a small town where people more or less looked after each other, so why would Loa be any different?

Juli stopped by the house shortly after we got home and I shared our little adventure with her. We laughed and rejoiced in the whole thing all over again. She told us that if one of the teenagers in the County gets stopped for speeding, or whatever, the parents know about it before the kid gets home. Knowing that may make the teenagers think twice about doing something they know they shouldn’t do. I think that’s great! I’m sure Juli told Tal about me when she got home. I haven’t talked to Tal, yet, so I haven’t heard whether the deputy called Tal and said, “Hey, I just stopped your mother.” It makes me laugh just to think about it. I hope the deputy did call Tal.

Perhaps I should add one more thing to this little story. After Juli left our house I went into the family room and sat down to go through the mail. Jack and I laughed, again, about the cop stopping me and then he said, “I really enjoyed the ride today. You are really a good and careful driver.”