I went by my office tonight to do something I didn’t get a chance to finish before I left for school this afternoon. It was dark and I just wanted to get home, so I took a chance on a yellow light that wasn’t having any of it, and turned pink. Ok it turned red. I quickly looked around and there were cars around, but it was too dark to see if any of them were cops. Until the flashing lights came on that is.
I was already entering a freeway and wasn’t sure if I should pull over right there. I decided to stop so as not to make the cop feel like I was running from them, so I began to move into the medium. Mistake number one. I heard a loud speaker come on and a voice say “DON’T STOP HERE! PULL OFF THE FREEWAY!”
Feeling like an idiot I continued to the next exit and pulled into a parking lot in front of a diner. After stopping I was once again unsure what to do. So I got out of the truck. Mistake number two. The loud speaker once again blared “Get back in your vehicle sir!” Could I possibly do more to tick off this cop?
I sat in my truck with visions of county lock up running through my mind when the officer came up and took my driver’s license and insurance. Nervousness took over and my mouth fell into gear. I made excuses for running the light and that I was sorry and that I had a good driving record and that I was really, really sorry and that I never do that kind of stuff and that I was really, really, really sorry.
She took my license, asked me to wait, and went back to her squad car. I sat in my truck, suddenly feeling like I was 5 years old sitting in my room after doing something wrong and being told to go there to wait for my spanking. Would she run my license and see that I have a perfect record and just tell me to be more careful, or would she come back with a ticket in her hand?
I sat stewing in my truck and started to get frustrated with myself for being stupid and at the cop for not showing any leniency. After all, I have a clean record. I’m sure she sees that on her little screen in her car. She doesn’t have to give me a ticket, why was she taking so long? I don’t deserve this, it’s her fault for being a mean person! She should have taken one look at my driving record and came up here to give me a medal, not at ticket! I’ll show her, when she comes back I’m going to make a really digging smart aleck remark about not showing a little grace to people. Why not? She’s already giving me a ticket anyway, so why not give her a good verbal jab!
She arrived a minute later with citation in hand, but before I could say anything she looked at me and said “This isn’t a ticket, it’s just a warning. You don’t have to go to court, and it won’t go on your driving record. It’s just to say I had contact with you. That’s a really dangerous intersection you went through and a lot of people have been hurt by people running that light.”
Hear that whistle blowing? That’s the Shame Train leaving the station, and I’m the conductor. Woo Woo.
I thanked her for giving me a break, and apologized for running the light, and we parted.
God teaches. In more ways than we can imagine. In the span of a few minutes He taught me a lifetime about grace, respect, humbleness, taking responsibility, and just plain shutting up. Yes, God teaches. It’s too bad He has to resort to such extreme lessons to make us get it.
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