Unlawful

Earlier this week, I am one mile from the hospital. As I am turning the corner in my silver Prius, I see flashing lights behind me which I am assuming are for someone else. Nope, they are for me.

I am thinking to myself, you have got to be kidding me. When it rains it certainly downpours.

A police officer who looks like a military drill sargeant walks over to my car. "Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?" to which I reply, "No."

"State law in Texas requires you have a front license plate and you don't have one on your vehicle," he informs me. I am thinking this must be a joke, but rest assured, this is no joke to him.

He asks for my driver's license and proof of insurance. As I am pulling out my California license, I realize this is not going to end well.

"Ma'am, state law requires you to have a Texas license. Is there any reason you don't have your Texas license?" he says.

"Yes. My son has a life threatening illness and is now waiting for a bone marrow transplant," I say as I start crying, "So I just have not had time to get it yet." He is unmoved.

I am fumbling through the glove box looking for the company car insurance card. While searching for it, I find our front license plate in the glove box. He is unimpressed.

He gives me less than 1 minute to look for the insurance card, and informs me he is writing me a citation for driving without insurance and issuing me 2 written warnings - 1 for not having a Texas license and 1 for driving without a front license plate. "But I have insurance! It is a company car," I try to explain. "I just need time to find the insurance card."

He comes back with the ticket and 2 written warnings, and tells me I need to show up in court on Jan 30 to show proof of insurance.

This brings my outburst of, "You don't get it! My son is waiting for a bone marrow transplant and we can't be around ANY GERMS. I can't show up there in person."

He starts lecturing me, "Ma'am, I am a law enforcement official and my job is to uphold the law." This is my clue to bite my tongue as this jerk is likely to throw me in jail if I say another word.


So, the world is now a safer place as I am no longer committing the horrific crime of driving without a front license plate. Yet another example of your tax dollars hard at work.

Kristin