Friday, April 15, 2005
Spred 'em!
Although my weekend was not nearly as interesting as Jeff's (save for the parts where I was with Jeff), I did get to have a little fun on Monday. Upon returning from part one of our errands, I got stuck behind a big truck on Columbus. For those of you who don't know me, I can be a very impatient driver. Being so close to home, I was not very willing to put up with a slow driver. At the stop sign on Lomita, the truck did like a triple take before finally turning. I then pulled past him, and promptly ran the stop sign.
Part of it was that I am impatient, but part of it was just that my brain had convinced itself in all the starting and stopping of the truck, I had stopped at the stop sign too. As I passed through the intersection, Andrea promptly informed me that I had run a stop sign and there was a cop sitting right there. Sure enough, out pulled the cop on his motorcycle.
Allow me to stop the story here for a second to discuss two things. First, Motorcycle cops look really stupid. Everytime I see one, I think they're just faking being a cop. I was really tempted to just take Andrea's boat of a car and run this guy off the road. Not because I hate cops, or didn't want to get arrested, but because he just looked so damn stupid. Second, I still don't have a California license plate or drivers license.
Thankfully, as I was considering having the cop follow me INTO MY APARTMENT COMPLEX, I remembered that, technically, I don't even live in this time zone let alone the state or city. I pulled over and the cop approached my window. After the obligatory "know why I pulled ya over" and the answer, we got into a discussion about what I was doing in California and why I would ever want to move here. It turns out that the cop was from Lincoln, Nebraska. He looked at my license, insurance and registration, and then informed me that the ticket for running a stop sign in LA county is $250! Thankfully, he let me walk, with the warning "Just be careful, we do things different here in LA."
Moral of the story; don't get pulled over in LA county unless you are from some yokel state and still have all of your identification from that state. Also, it helps if you're white.
Part of it was that I am impatient, but part of it was just that my brain had convinced itself in all the starting and stopping of the truck, I had stopped at the stop sign too. As I passed through the intersection, Andrea promptly informed me that I had run a stop sign and there was a cop sitting right there. Sure enough, out pulled the cop on his motorcycle.
Allow me to stop the story here for a second to discuss two things. First, Motorcycle cops look really stupid. Everytime I see one, I think they're just faking being a cop. I was really tempted to just take Andrea's boat of a car and run this guy off the road. Not because I hate cops, or didn't want to get arrested, but because he just looked so damn stupid. Second, I still don't have a California license plate or drivers license.
Thankfully, as I was considering having the cop follow me INTO MY APARTMENT COMPLEX, I remembered that, technically, I don't even live in this time zone let alone the state or city. I pulled over and the cop approached my window. After the obligatory "know why I pulled ya over" and the answer, we got into a discussion about what I was doing in California and why I would ever want to move here. It turns out that the cop was from Lincoln, Nebraska. He looked at my license, insurance and registration, and then informed me that the ticket for running a stop sign in LA county is $250! Thankfully, he let me walk, with the warning "Just be careful, we do things different here in LA."
Moral of the story; don't get pulled over in LA county unless you are from some yokel state and still have all of your identification from that state. Also, it helps if you're white.
