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Well, I was driving while impaired. Got pulled over. Officer made me get out of the car and gave me a very long lecture on driving while impaired. At this point, I figured okay I am getting a ticket or worse. At some point he said to me, "you have a pretty face, what should we do prevent it from getting wrapped around one of these telephone poles?" My reply: "Get rid of the telephone poles!"

He let me go!

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Bah ha ha! LOVE THIS! And boy, times sure have changed as if that had happened in 2024, you'd be sitting in the pokey!

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I would trade so many things I care about to have the right to pull over bad drivers and ticket them. Nothing infuriates me more than driving… It's how I can tell how far away I am from enlightenment :-)

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The day I got my license (16 years old) I was driving to a friends house and I rolled through a stop sign, and as the cop pulled me over, I remembered my mom telling me that if "I got a ticket in the first six months I drove, she would take my license away until I graduated two years later." The officer came to the door and I started crying and I wasn't even faking it. He thought I was so pathetic that he gave me a warning and my mom never found out. hahah

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LOVE THIS Mike! For me, it was always fun to see what people would say to. I loved honesty and often honored that by giving a warning. When people were pissy or hostile, I gave an "attitude ticket" (which I was told I wasn't supposed to do, but I did it anyways because I COULD). When people lied or made stupid excuses, I also gave a ticket. But when people were honest, or their violation was clearly a mistake, I typically gave a warning. Like the elderly man who made an illegal turn directly in front of me (cutting me off). When I stopped him he said, "I'm so sorry officer. My wife and I are lost. I was looking for the Arboretum and my wife who has the map yelled 'TURN LEFT' so I just turned left." When I came back to give him his warning, I advised him where he could find the Arboretum and then added, "And sir, can I give you a piece of advice?" and he goes, "Yes" and I go, "Next time DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE." And he goes, "Thanks a lot officer" and the wife jumps in and goes, "Yeah, THANKS A LOT officer!"

Oh how I miss the days of being able to flip a switch, activate my red & blues, and dish out JUSTICE when I see someone driving like an a-hole!!! I especially get riled up when someone tailgates me. One time, when I was off duty and driving my SUV, I had someone riding my bumper so when we came to the stop light and he pulled up next to me, I was so red with anger that I honked my horn and he looks over at me. Then I flashed him my badge and he just stared. But when I flipped him the finger (not the most "Christian" thing to do) next to my badge, his jaw dropped! And the funny (or sad) part was that I was ON MY WAY TO CHURCH when this happened! But I told Jesus I was sorry and I told my pastor about it. He just rolled his eyes.

There is still, even today, a lot of the "street" left in me from my years working as a cop but as the old saying goes, "God is not finished with me yet!"

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