MY NEWBIE IS SHOWING

Day 4: Rules are Made to Be Broken

Name a time when you broke a rule or law. Did you get caught, or did you get away with it?





Picture it, June 2005, I had teenagers, it’s late at night and everybody, including the hubby, fell asleep on me. In rural Minnesota, the 55 mph speed limit signs were relics from the Jimmy Carter gas conservation years. Everyone treated them like the suggestions that they were and ignored them.


At the same time the Relay for Life was going on, and we had to get to my folks’ place. Did I mention that it was late at night and everybody was asleep? So, I pulled off onto the shortcut road, set the cruise at 65. When I got to a small town, I kicked it down a bit, but not enough. Red and blue lights.


Now everybody is awake and turning their sleepy eyes to look into the deputy’s flashlight. “Do you know how fast you were going, ma’am?”


“I think I was going the speed limit through town.”


“I tagged you north of Ormsby.”


“I had the cruise set at 65.”


I think he was not expecting an honest answer. He informed me of the speed limit and took my license and insurance to make sure that I was not a serial killer on the loose or something sinister like that.


By the time he got back to me the hubby was awake wanting to know what happened. Everybody else got bored and went back to sleep. After I got my lecture on driving safety, he was very gracious and let me off without a moving violation. I think he felt sorry for me with all those teenagers in the car and thought I had enough to deal with. That was nice. Or was he just trying to keep a straight face?


Hubby commented that I was lucky. Oh, please! The stop was something to do on the overnight shift. Who are you kidding?


Anyway, I said, “How much you want to bet he radioed ahead to Trimont and knows exactly how long it will take to get from here to there at 55 mph?”


He thought it was funny, but I was serious. I put the cruise on 55 and went on my way. I pulled up to the only stopsign in Trimont and guess who pulled up on the cross street? Right on time -- the local sheriff. We laughed so long and hard about that. (We were a littley punchy.) It was a slow night in the one horse town.


So did I get away with breaking a rule? No. Yes. No. Wait, yes. Definitely kinda, sorta, maybe.