So I’m driving home the other night on 195 minding my own business, doing pretty close to the speed limit in the right lane, not bothering anyone when I see the car behind me light up; it was a State Trooper!

I checked my speedometer right away, but I was only going a couple of miles above the speed limit. Being the law abiding citizen that I am, I immediately pulled over on the shoulder. I was a little perplexed since I hadn’t been doing anything wrong, at least as far as I could tell. I turned on the dome light and got my registration out of the glove compartment. I then got out my phone, since that is where my proof of insurance card is. Since virtually every time I’ve ever been pulled over I’ve gotten the ticket, I waited with the quiet resignation of someone who knows that they are getting a ticket, even when doing nothing wrong. So, I waited. And waited. And waited.

I assumed the trooper was running my plates or some such administrative task or maybe just letting me stew. While I waited, I tried to think of what I could have possibly done wrong. I knew I wasn’t speeding and there weren’t many other cars around so I hadn’t changed lanes or tailgated anybody. Finally, the the trooper approached my passenger side window which I had rolled down for his convenience. He leaned in and said, “Good evening, sir.” I was expecting that to be followed by “Do you know why I pulled you over?”, but it wasn’t. He said, “Sir, I didn’t pull you over, I pulled over the car behind you. You’re free to go.”

It was then that I noticed that the police car was not immediately behind me, but that were was a Cadillac in between my car and the trooper’s. I’m going to say that the lights from the grill and the cherries made it too hard to see, but it’s more likely that I just hadn’t looked closely enough as I pulled over. So, I felt a little stupid, but that feeling was canceled out by my feeling of relief. I did, however, let the trooper pull away first before I got back on the road. I was just glad that I got pulled over (sort of) and DIDN’T get the ticket.

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