Back in September I got a speeding ticket about 30 seconds after I pulled out of my driveway.
I think I set a world record for getting pulled over within the shortest distance of a person’s own house.
Of course, my registration was expired.
So I got a ticket for that, too.
I had to come up with the money to pay the ticket.
And to renew my registration.
But before I could renew the registration, I had to pay my taxes which were way overdue.
It was one big fucked up game of dominoes.
So anyway, altogether between the tickets and the registration and the taxes, I needed to come up with about $1600.
I didn’t have anywhere near that, so I just kept avoiding the whole situation.
Number 6 and 7 have preschool on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.
But Number 7 goes in the morning until noon, and Number 6 goes in the afternoon starting at 12:30.
So we have a half hour in between pick up and drop off to fill on those days.
Usually I pack lunch and we eat in the car in the parking lot while we wait.
Number 6 has a kid in his class whose dad is a cop.
And he’s always there at preschool in his cop car for drop off.
With my multiple traffic violations still unattended to, I would always avoid eye contact with him.
Around 12:20, Number 6 and 7 usually start to get a little antsy in the car, and they always ask to unbuckle their seat belts.
So one day, I let them loose.
Of course Number 6 had to be a total pain in the ass and crawl up in the front seat.
As he was weasling his way up to the front I kept repeating,
Don’t climb in the front. Stay in the back.
Don’t. Climb. In. The. Front.
If you don’t get out of the front seat I’m going to…
By this point his head was on the floor of the passenger side of the car, and his feet were in my face, and I was pissed.
I grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled his head up, and through gritted teeth said, “I. Told. You. To. Stay. In…”
Tap.
Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I looked over at my window as I was pulling Number 6 up off the floor by the neck of his jacket.
And there was the dad cop.
Shit.
I rolled down the window.
“I have a thing in my car that beeps when someone’s registration is expired,” he said to me.
Fuck.
“Our kids are in class together, so I’m not going to do anything, but you might want to get that taken care of,” he said. “You might get a ticket,” he said.
“Um, I already did,” I told him as I slowly released my grip from the back of Number 6’s jacket.
I didn’t need to add a ticket for endangering the life of a child onto my list of offenses.
“You did? Someone gave you a ticket?” he asked.
“Yes,” I told him.
“You could contest it,” he said to me.
“Yeah. I could have. Except I was supposed to pay the ticket about 2 weeks ago,” he said to me.
“Um, you might want to take care of that before they issue a warrant for your arrest,” he said.
I told him I would, thanked him, and rolled my window back up.
Phew.
I spent the next couple days driving around town ten miles per hour slower than the speed limit, pissing off every person who had the misfortune of being behind me on the road.
I was like an escaped convict in danger of being apprehended and hauled down to the slammer.
A couple days later, I got a letter in the mail.
Your license will be suspended and a warrant issued for your arrest if you don’t pay…
Double fuck.
Now I had another $60 fine added onto the total that I’d need to pay in order to reopen my case.
I had to borrow money from my parents, go to town hall to pay my taxes, and then go down to the courthouse.
It was a total mess.
And seriously stressful.
I drove around for over a month watching over my shoulder and having heart palpitations because I kept putting something off longer and longer and longer.
And I almost got myself arrested.
Which is why I share this story. For two reasons.
One, to give you your wake up call.
Whatever that thing is that you have to do but just don’t want to do, do it tomorrow. Or today. Depending on when you are reading this.
Don’t carry around that stress and worry with you.
Avoiding it is much more stressful (and expensive and time consuming) than dealing with it and just getting it over with, and you will feel such relief when it is done.
The second reason?
Check your registration.
Because chances are, the cop who taps on your window won’t be as cool as the one who tapped on mine.
Today’s post is sponsored by Olive & Lucy of Oscawana Lake
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Deanna says
Courts many times have payment plans. If you went in there and pled your case, they could have let you pay a little at a time until it was paid off (and avoided the extra $60). Glad you got it taken care of tho….
Rebecca Holt says
That really was a unlucky day! I personally feel like putting things for tomorrow can be useful for some situations. You just sometimes don´t have the freshness and mental capability do properly analyze and deal with problems instantly when they rise up. One tip for you, If speeding tickets are getting more frequent then I highly suggest you to get a radar detector.( make sure it it legal in your state first). My husband own one and has saved him a couple thousand worth of tickets!
Deanna says
Most departments have switched over to laser detectors or use pacing. It’s a rarity that they have radar detectors anymore.
kim says
Wow. The likeness to my life scares me a little! I have just encountered the same issue. $1500 fine for unregistered car, which I couldn’t register because the vehicle was locked due to me ignoring a public transport fine (I live in Australia) so now I have to constantly look over my shoulder and drive exactly like this. I cannot afford the fines or borrow money but I have kids age 1 & 2 who need to get around. I just wanted to say thanks for being YOU and sharing THIS. You make me feel normal. I’ve had a very tough day and the likeness to my life made me smile. Thank you. And I will keep trying to get my car registered, this is no way to live.