Cherries and Blueberries

Much to my dismay, I was pulled over for the first time since moving to California today. Actually, I think I was pulled over for the first time since leaving Wisconsin. Both previous times I had the good fortune of not receiving a ticket of any sort. The first time I had a tail light out, and I totally deserved a ticket for another offense that we won't talk about right now, but the cop took pity on my sorry 17 year-old ass and sent me home to get a new tail light. I swear, that thing was always going out. The second time, I was definitely speeding down a County Highway on New Year's Eve, but the holiday, and the fact that I wasn't drunk driving, must have put the cop in a good mood, and once again I was let off with just a verbal warning. Back to today's story, I didn't figure that I'd have the same luck of not getting a ticket a third time. The thing is, I really didn't think that I had done anything that wrong. It's a little hard to explain the story without graphics, but the gist is that I ended up a little far out into an intersection at a traffic signal. So I got pulled over; I really should have known it would happen because there were about 8 million cops out today for some reason. So the officer came up to the window and asked me what happened. And I have this embarrassing complex where cops really just freak me out. So I was all shaking, and I couldn't tell my story properly for anything. So he took all my relevant information and went to his car to run it. He came back a few minutes later and informed me that generally, under the circumstances, they would issue a ticket for running a red light in this situation. But given my story, he'd let me off. Still all worked up in my officer-panic complex, I muttered some sort of "thanks" and "sorry." I'm guessing that it really paid off the way I fixed up my hair and lip gloss before he came back to the car to tell you the truth. Okay--I'm totally kidding there, totally kidding. I think he just thought I was a big moron. I do feel just a tad bit ripped off though, since I was not pulled over by Eric Estrada on a motorcycle. Or even just an officer on a motorcycle. Maybe next time. For now, thank you Mr. Officer for not making me pay $300.00 to the state of California. I really didn't mean to run the red light, and I promise to do better next time.