Skip to main content

Cop Magnet

Ya gotta love cops in the DC Metro. Now, I'm not talking about DC cops - MPD - not yet, anyway. In two days, I've had the pleasure of attracting attention from a Prince George's County officer while in the drive-through at the Laurel Chick-fil-A...and a Mountgomery County cruiser while close to DC.

Now, what might I be doing to gain such attention from the fuzz? Expired license plate. Yeah, something called "life" got in the way of me remembering to renew that little detail. It expired on 1/31. So, on 2/5 the PG County officer honked several times at me while I was trying to get a sausage burrito and a coffee.
"Sir, how ya doin' this morning?" the black officer polietly inquired.

"Fine, thank you, officer," I managed, perplexed at why he was talking to me.

"Just wanted you to know your tag is expired and you need to get that taken care of."

"Oh, really? Wow, thank you, sir. I will." He waved a polite "take care" gesture and went on his way, having taken advantage of the free Chick-fil-A breakfast they've always offered law enforcement.

So, that day, I renewed the tag online and was pleased to see a temporary "badge" was provided to print out and I placed that in my window. Good thing, too.

The next morning, again going to work but no breakfast stop and closer to DC, I wondering why a cruiser was 3 car lengths back from my bumper at a red light. Yeah, I got that "target locked" feeling. Green light. Blue lights and siren. Slide over to the shoulder.

"Good morning, sir. I pulled you over because your tags are expired."

I briefly explained the badge in the window and my renewing of tags online. The asian officer didn't seem entirely convinced and wanted my license and registration. Yea, for me! I haven't had that pleasure since being in the DC Metro. He looked them over, looked over the badge.

"OK, well, I couldn't see that in your window."

I hope those $128 of stickers arrive soon since I need to attract a Howard County and DC cruiser next. MPD might not care since it's a Maryland tag.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Very Angry Prostate

Cancer.  No other word evokes so many emotions and consumes so many thoughts of both the one with the diagnosis and those who learn of it. On Tuesday, June 25, at 4:40pm, I learned that I have prostate cancer.  One of the questions I'm most asked: "How did you know to check?" Naturally, some wondered if I had signs or pains. There were none. Last September, I had my second physical with my new primary physician. With an age of 50, he requested a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test be added to my blood panel. The next day, the results were in my portal. For my age, my PSA should be no higher than 4. My reading was 4.191. Since this number was out of range, the portal chart visually shouted at me that this was HIGH. Googling sent me into a spiral of thinking I might have prostate cancer which led to many thoughts of mortality. I was at work sitting in my cubicle attempting to calm myself and praying as waves of anxiety, thoughts and emotions washed in. I contacted my prima
2 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »

When Three Weeks Felt Like Three Months

These words have taken months to reconcile as I've wrestled with and revisited many times over. Summarizing three very long weeks of December 2023 has been quite the challenge. I was in Mississippi for what began as a hip fracture for my mother and ended in her passing. It's still rather surreal for her to be gone. The first Mother's Day without her impacted me more than what would've been her 86th birthday on January 24 or what would've been her 67th wedding anniversary on April 4. Not getting a call from her on my birthday July 1 was also a void which was filled with Dad calling in birthday wishes. My family being a thousand miles away for the last 20 years, only speaking on the phone once or twice a month, visits only being every few years due to life and expenses...it feels almost routine being disconnected from Mom. Yet, random memories and various regrets have trickled through my mind since those exhausting weeks in December. Three weeks which felt like three
2 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »

May We Never Forget

On this 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I'm posting below a story I wrote on the 10th anniversary. These are my reflections on that day.  Looking at the first paragraph, it's interesting how times change. No one has asked me questions of where I was or what I was doing. I'm not sure if many of us have forgotten but more likely we're so very distracted. We've navigated almost two years of a pandemic that's taken and changed so many lives. We've navigated political and cultural changes poorly and emotionally to the point of creating more divisions.  We are not the country we were the weeks and months after 9/11. The bipartisan efforts then were refreshing. The amount of American flags flying proudly and in solidarity was inspiring. Today, it seems many despise their own country and its flag. But even this is not new. While she has stumbled over the years and will continue to do so - America will always be the most amazing country in the world. It
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »