Okay, let me paint a picture here: It's 1999, I was 16, I had my license, a car, and a part-time job at Dairy Queen. I typically worked Saturdays and Sundays during the school year, and expanded my hours during the summer. I was in 10th grade, I was a mostly-A student, and I attended all the football games because I was in the band (tenor sax). I had a few close friends, lots of crushes, but no boyfriend. I lived in a stable, 2-parent home of modest means. My favorite thing to do was read, and I could read a book a day. You might say I was living the typical life of a teenager, albeit a nerdy one.
One evening, probably around midnight or later, I was ending my late shift at DQ. I gave a coworker a ride home, and headed home myself. Now, my parents lived 13 miles away from the Dairy Queen, most of it outside town, and I usually made this drive with the radio blaring and no regard for the speed limit. I also had a bad tendency to daydream while driving. So I'm driving along Midwest Blvd, singing to the radio, when I notice flashing lights behind me. I don't remember a siren, but I did have the music up loud, so who knows? That detail is lost in time. Anyway. I have no idea how long the cop has been behind me, but I'm choosing to believe I noticed it sooner rather than later. So, I panic. I've never been pulled over before, and I want to do it correctly, so I'm freaking out wondering what stretch of road I should pull over on, am I supposed to signal, etc. I quickly went from going 68 mph to around 20 mph. I was still undecided as to what I should do as I approached 29th street, and the light went red.
So I stopped for the light. I believe I was thinking something along the lines of "I shouldn't run a red light while a cop is tailing me." So I STOPPED FOR THE LIGHT. Meanwhile, the cop had called for backup, so by the time I turned left onto 29th street there were a total of FOUR police cars following me. I was losing my shit trying to figure out where to pull over, and yes, I'm still driving very slowly. Crawling, really. With 4 police cars behind me. I remember I crossed a bridge because I didn't know if it was okay to pull over on the bridge. I finally almost parked, but had to keep moving when I saw the fire hydrant. I remembered from the Oklahoma Driver Manuel that you're not supposed to block fire hydrants, and I was trying to not make matters worse.
So, after leading the police on a mile-long low-speed chase, I pulled to a stop just beyond the fire hydrant. I remember I rolled down the window, but the cop suggested I get out of the car. Suddenly, I'm standing by a female cop while a few other cops investigate my car and one male cop (the first one to follow me) asks me questions. I don't remember a lot of them, but I do recall him asking why I was speeding, why I was out so late, and why it took me so long to pull over. I probably said that I wasn't aware I was speeding. I do know that I told him I was driving home from work, because he said I was out past curfew. I also remember explaining that I had never been pulled over before, so I wasn't sure of the process. In hindsight, I'm sure I came off as a total spazz. Meanwhile, the other officers started leaving. They gave the car a thorough search, but since it was my dad's car, they didn't find anything incriminating. Haha, just a bunch of computer-related equipment and junk in the backseat. No gun, no drugs, just a stupid teenage girl.
I ended up with a reckless driving ticket, however, I did get the distinct feeling that the main cop was very aggravated with me, and at the fact that the worst he could do to me was that reckless driving citation. I wish I could remember what he said to me.
It's been 20 years since that night, and I've never done more than laugh about it in remembrance. My dad has been known to tell the story while laughing and slapping his knee, like it's a family joke. Don't get me wrong- it definitely is a family joke to us, and especially to my dad, but now I look back and think about how lucky I was. I'm white. As white as it gets. Blonde and blue. I'm female. 20 years ago, I was a silly teenage girl-next-door. At no time during this incident was I handcuffed or roughed-up or restrained in any way. I don't think I was body-searched. I was allowed to remain free-standing next to the female cop while the others searched the car. The officers just kind of deflated when I stepped out of the car and revealed my teenage ditzy self. My WHITE FEMALE teenage ditzy self.
No comments:
Post a Comment