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[kyra_ojosverdes]

I got pulled over today. My registration expired in January, and my left brake light is out. I didn't know about the brake light. I replaced the bulb and assembly some months ago, and it worked fine then. What the hell? Any of you Missoula people know something about wiring and such??

Anyhow, the police "blooped" the siren, so I pulled over and turned the van off. I had my hands folded in my lap, until I noticed that the officer was approaching my window with extreme caution. (Cop-killing terrorists in beat-up minivans filled with child seats. Details at 11.) I put my hands on the steering wheel and that point, and focused on not moving.

So, the officer told me that he'd stopped me for the brake light and the registration. I told him that I hadn't known about the brake light, as I'd fixed it several months ago. He asked, did I know about the registration? Yes, I did, I hadn't been able to afford to renew it yet. He took my paperwork back to the police car. That's when I noticed the second officer, looking very wary, standing just behind my passenger window. (I suppose I should be glad the folks in uniform aren't saving up all their caution and paranoia for people who "look like criminals.") I sat there, breathing and trying to stay calm and figure out how I was going to pay the ticket and registration, plus get the damned brake light fixed. I kept my hands on the steering wheel.

After a while, he came back, again sidling up to the window with extreme caution, his eyes glued on the side mirror to see what I was doing. His partner was doing the same maneuver on the passenger side. (It's those damn single mothers, they'll pull a gun on you every time.) He handed my paperwork back, and as I was putting it away, he told me that normally he'd definitely give a ticket, for having two things wrong, but he didn't see the point of giving me yet another expense, but that anyone else would have ticketed me. (He's right. I got a ticket for just those two things sometime last year.) I thanked him through my shock. He told me that he understands how it is when the bills come due, and to try to save up to get the van registered, because you really have to do that, and again, anyone else would give me a ticket. And get the brake light fixed, that's dangerous.

*blink* *blink* *blink*

All the bad things I've said about Campus Security (the guys who wanted to press arson charges against two 5 year olds and a 6 year old when they "got lucky" the first time they played with matches and torched a wash house), I take back. Well, about this specific officer, anyhow. The rest are still power-mad assholes.