A little background info: I have been driving for like ummmm,....about 26 years. ( give or take a few years,..I'll let ya all do the math )
Not a single traffic violation or speeding ticket EVER. Nope,..no sireee Bob,...my record has been clean as a whistle, slick slick slick and squeeky clean.
Well,...so much for owning my bragging rights,...this weekend put an end to all that!
Son was awaiting a rain-out call from a baseball showcase located about two hours away. We had participated on Saturday indoors,..and Sunday we were suposed to go and actually play on an outdoor field. Saturday night,..horrific rains,.and then below freezing level temperatures. Ice and muck everywhere.
We were supposed to play at 8 am Sunday,..but got the word that it had been delayed and the playing decision would be pushed back to 11:00. Well,..when we called the rain-out hot line at 11:000, it said for everyone to report to the fields at 12 to get started for a game at 1:00! ( uhhh, but but buuuut,..... hellooo,.... we live TWO hours away !!! )
Needless to say, son and I flew into the car and it was " peddle-to-the-metal-time- people!!!
Now,..I must tell you that we live in RURAL Kansas,...and the roads were wet but very few people actually driving on them! ( sounds like I'm trying to rationalize my behavior, huh? I am, I am!! )
Goin' about 70 ( ok,..70-ish ) zip zoom,..no problem. I am a mother on a mission and there are college scouts awaiting to see my baseball player, his college future is at stake here,... you all can understand,...right?
Cruisen,..making good time, varooom,.....feeling pretty confident that it will be close, but I think we can make it, until...
" What could those pretty blue and red flashing lights be behind us? " I asked my son. He,..being the silly, sarcastic, 16 year old, starts laughing and tells me its the Highway Patrol and I better pull over. Darn, darn, darn!!! ( admitingly, those weren't my exact words, but something to that effect.
)Smiling as I roll down the window,....
" Uh, good afternoon officer ".
He sees my son in the front seat all dressed up in baseball gear, " Goin' to a baseball game? " he asks.
Uh,..smiling big and batting eyes,.." Yes sir we are. Well actually, its a showcase and we have college scouts waiting to see him! "
Officer replies, " Oh so you want to play college baseball son, huh? Do you play for your highschool now? "
They begin chit chatting talking baseball.
( I'm thinkin',...ohhh good! Maybe he'll let us off with a warning cause he seems to share a common baseball interest with us! )
So as son and police officer are discussing where he wants to play and just exactly what colleges he's interested in,..I hand over my license and registration. Officer tips his Smokey-the-Bear hat at me and says he'll be right back.
16 year old son is sitting still, looking forward toward the front windshield, and says smirkingly out of the side of his mouth,
" Hey mom,..I did my best for ya! "
" No wise cracks outta youuuuu Mister ", I reply.
Soo,...hum da deee,...tapping fingers on stirring wheel wondering what's taking the officer so loong.
Surely he'll pull my name up and see that I have a PERFECT, unblemmished record, and that's gotta be good for some brownie points, right?
He, ( this time he's the one smiling,...I am looking nerveous ),... walks back up to the window & hands me this pretty yellow piece of paper. Says I can pay the fine or appear in court, ( APPEAR IN COURT?????? ) to be sure to have a great day, and he'll watch the local paper for my son's name when baseball season comes about. He tips his hat again and goes back in his patrol car.
16 year old son,...starts laughing hysterically,....thinks its hilarious that his
" perfect mother " got a ticket, and especially with HIM in the car at the time!!
Trying not to slap him,..and starting to laugh with him,...I realize I gotta get a grip & try to get control of myself.
I start the old, well-known, parenting lectures about how important it is to abide by rules,..cause rules are set for a reeeeeeasons,...that if ya do the crime, ya pay the fine,..yadda yadda yadda!...
and the ol' " If you tell your father, I'm gonna have to give you a labotomy " speech.
Soooo,.... after a $138 fine, a perfect driving record ruined, and the embarrassment of getting a ticket with my 16 year old son in the car with me, the good news is he made it to his showcase and was able to slide in,..just in the nick of time. Perhaps the directors took pitty on me,..not sure. ( of course 16 year old son couldn't keep his mouth shut and had to tell the entire world about my ticket!!)
As I asked/told my son,..do you REALLY think I would have been speeding if I was going to my hair appointment? Of course not! ( Ummm,...well ok,..maybe, but thats not the point! Insert great motherly comparison example here. My brain hurts! )
At least if my perfect record had to be broken,..it was in the name of baseball!!! Can ya blame me?
I can't be the first mom to loose all control and common sense when it came to their sons, baseball, and college,..right?...right?
E-gads!! Whatta weekend!
I need hugs!!!
