[non-scirocco]Accelerating too fast

["Wm. Josiah Erikson" <josiah@gsinet.net>]

Hey guys...
    Just thought I'd share this with you... delete unless you feel like
reading about a cop who was a real jerk to me.
    I was having a really crappy day. I was just feeling depressed in
general, and I was taking care of Cara (my daughter's mother), and JLynn
(my daughter) at Cara's house because Cara had just had her wisdom teeth
out and she wasn't feeling too hot. I ran down the street to get her
breakfast, and on the way back I was sitting at a stoplight in my QSW. I
don't know what came over me, but I felt like showing the guy in the
Firebird next to me that I was cool or something... he was wearing
sunglasses and was listening to really loud music.
    So I was sitting there with my engine up at 4500rpm, and when the
light turned green, I dropped the clutch and floored it. WHAM! slight
tire chirp and I took off. Maxed it out in first gear, dropped it into
second and then backed off because it was in the city and I'd already
left the Firebird about 200ft behind anyway (obviously, he wasn't
racing). So I drop it into 4th and then hit the brakes for the next
stoplight. I got up to maybe 35mph, max.
    Then I see the blues. This cop pulls me over right in front of the
next stoplight, and I'm thinking, "well, what can he get me for?
Accelerating too fast?" Huh... I roll down my window, shut off the
engine and wait. I see the cop coming, lean out my window...
    "Good afternoon, officer."
    No response. He comes up to the window, put his hands on his hips,
and says, "Gimme your license and registration."
    "Can you tell me what you're pulling me over for first, sir?"
    "Gimme your license and registration, NOW."
    "Don't you have to tell me what you're pulling me over for first?"
    "You have to provide license and registation to an officer upon
request at any time, for any reason. Now give them to me, or do you want
me to arrest you right now?"
    I give them to him. Then he proceeds to tell me why he pulled me
over, in his own way.
    "You took off from that stoplight like Mario Andretti. I could hear
you racing your engine. You chirped your tires and lifted your front end
up. I'm debating whether to give you a ticket or arrest you right now."
(He seemed to like to threaten me with this).
    I said, "Yeah my muffler's got four holes in it." (to explain why he
could hear me revving my engine from a block away).
    "That WAS NOT your muffler. That was you revving your engine."
    "I didn't say I wasn't revving my engine, sir."
    He looks at my license. "You still live in Weare, on Poor Farm
Road?"
    "Yes, sir."
    "Do they tolerate that kind of driving in Weare?"
    I didn't know what to say to that, was pretty shaken up and having a
bad day, so I didn't say anything.
    "Huh? Do they? I bet you think they do, huh?"
    Again, I didn't say anything... I couldn't believe this cop. I kinda
muttered something incoherent like "I dunno" or something equally lame.
He was succeeding in intimidating me.
    "So what are you doing in my city?"
    Godddamn it! "I'm visiting my daughter," I managed to say. I don't
remember what he said to that, but he made it clear that he wished I'd
stay in my own town.
    So he went back to the car, and I just started crying. I know, I'm a
wuss, but I don't care. This just sucked. If I got a ticket, my license
would get taken away, and then I wouldn't be able to go to work, so I
wouldn't be able to pay child support, etc.... the whole world just
tumbled down... (you know those moods, where you just think that
EVERYTHING sucks).
  So he gave me a must appear, and I have to go to court on the 31st. I
dunno what will happen, but I hope I can keep my license. Hmmm.... his
charge was "reckless driving". I wonder if it'll hold up.
    If a Porsche 911 had accelerated that fast, it wouldn't have been
dramatic. If I had been going 35mph through that intersection, he
wouldn't have pulled me over. Just seems like a silly thing to get a
ticket for, accelerating too fast.
    I bet the guy driving that Firebird saw that cop, otherwise he would
have kicked the shit out of me (it was a Formula).
    So wish me good luck on the 31st! Anyone still reading? (laugh)
    -Josiah
    '83 Scirocco (parts car)
    '84 GTi (temporarily dead)
    '86 Scirocco (broken frame)
    '87 QSW (daily driver)
    http://www.gsinet.net/~josiah


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