My day just started out great for a fucking Monday...

So first, I woke up about 10 minutes late, which isn't too bad, but then I fell asleep again and wound up waking up fully almost half an hour late. I got ready for work in record time, dashed to the Jeep and sped toward the jobsite. No one's ever on Flamingo Road before 06h00 so I was admittedly speeding...then I saw the sirens. I was hoping beyond hope that it was coincidence and he was going to drive past me to save someone from a break-in or something but he just kept following me as I slowed down and finally stopped. His scary cop spotlight reflected in my side mirror and came close to searing my retinas off, so I aimed my eyes downward as he approached.

My mom used to work for the Nevada Highway Patrol for years before my youngest sister was born, so I knew that rummaging in the glove compartment was a pretty stupid thing to do. I slowly turned off the radio, killed the headlights and engine, put my keys in the passenger seat and rolled down the window. I don't want to give any possible misconception that I was going to do anything bizarre. When he asked me for my license, registration and proof of insurance, it was then that I went rummaging through the glove compartment. He told me he'd clocked me going 65 in a 45...I guess it's possible but I didn't look at my speedometer. After that, he immediately asked me (to my total shock), "So where's the weed?"

It took me a moment to even respond. I told him I didn't have any. He went on and on about my eyes being red, my erratic driving, how the Jeep smelled like it and I was so confused my response was, "I'll do hair blood or urine right now. I'm not on anything. And you can feel free to search my vehicle." Of course after I said that, my mind flashed briefly to a horrorworld, written into existence by Dean Koontz or Stephen King, when the officer might plant the weed in my Jeep or compromise my drug test. It was a somewhat illogical thought, but anyway, I regretted saying it. However, that response seemed to calm him right down until he realised that my insurance card expired nearly 2 months ago, and I didn't have a newer one in the vehicle. I know I'm insured but it really doesn't matter if you can't prove it then and there. Finally, he asked if I'd ever been arrested or in any trouble with the law, and I answered no, so he excused himself to his cruiser so he could (I guess) look up my history on his squad car computer and write up my ticket.

I was pissed and scared, both: 20 miles over the speed limit is a big deal, and I couldn't remember how much over a driver could be before they got arrested and their vehicle impounded. I was pissed because here i am, speeding like an idiot to make it to work on time and I'm pulled over, so I'll be way later than I would have been otherwise. I honestly contemplated calling in this morning and just avoiding the day altogether but that means missed pay and it being a Monday, it just looks bad without a doctor's note or something. So I waited.

The officer returned with my ticket. He'd reduced it to 56 in a 45, which was nice of him...prolly had something to do with the fact that my record is pretty damn spotless and I didn't throw a fit. He also cited me for failure to provide proof of insurance and gave me a court date in January. The whole thing totally sucked.

What irritated me the most though is that after all that bullshit, I made it to work--doing the speed limit--only 4 minutes after the start of my shift. I would have totally made it, damn it.