Days Seven: Lights and Sirens

In 2 hours and 53 minutes it will be 7 days since I smoked my last cigarette, and really, apart from eating everything in site, I’ve been ok with this quitting thing… At least mentally. Physically though, I’ve had some issues, stomach pain, sleeplessness blah blah blah… normal nicotine withdraws.

Today though, I STILL want a cigarette probably worse than I ever have in my whole life, because of an event that happened this morning.

I’m driving along on my way to work, actually running eerily for a change, so I’m taking my time. As I’m merging onto the I-235 from I-40 though, I’m stuck behind this car that is doing about 20 mph on the on ramp. Most of you know that the on ramp is designed to give you enough to get your speed up before you merge onto a highway full of cars all  driving 70 mph. So, as soon as we hit the three way I punch it and go around her at about 60 mph. Once I’m in front of her I accelerate to the speed limit, which I know to be 65. At this point I am cool and calm, I set my cruise and start singing along with the some song on K-love (yeh I know, make fun of me later), when I look in my rear view mirror and see a motorcycle cop with his lights on. I immediately move to the other lane thinking he must be after the car in front of me (which has to be doing at least 70 mph judging by how fast they passed me), but to my surprise as I change lanes so does he! So, I wait until I can find a safe spot and pull off to the side of the road, Smokey the bear pulls in behind me. He comes to the window, “Good morning officer” I say, in my most innocent sounding voice, but before I can even get that out he’s almost yelling “Do you not know you’re in a construction zone and the speed limit is 55, do you know how fast you were going?” I told him that I didn’t know exactly how fast I was going because I had set my cruise about a mile back but that I was probably going around 65, I also told him I didn’t think the construction zone started for about another mile, he told me that they moved the perimeter of the zone almost daily. That statement made me wonder whether or not they do that just so they can catch “speeders” who don’t think they are speeding. Back to the conversation with Smokey, “Drivers license” he says I couldn’t hear him so I said, “Huh?” and he said “DON’T YOU HAVE A DRIVERS LISCENCE!”… After understanding what Smokey wanted I gave him my license, and waited for him to do the customary walk to the car/bike and speak into the radio, then write on his little pad of doom. All the time I’m praying for a warning, but knowing that this jerk is not going to give me one. Smokey has to make is quota.

He walked back up to the car and handed me the ticket, and a pamphlet full of information about how to pay my ticket, and how much it was going to be. Smokey then tells me that he didn’t write the ticket for speeding in a construction zone (which doubles the fine). He told me that like I should have thanked him (and I did, cause he has a gun) but really it just pissed me off even more. I mean, if the guy really wanted to help me out he wouldn’t have written the ticket in the first place.

The fact is I honestly didn’t know I was speeding, since I started working in the city 6 months ago the construction zone has started within 500 yards of the same place, and today, it’s two miles sooner? So, no I have to pay the state of Oklahoma $161, when two weeks ago I couldn’t buy my medicine that was $180, I’m not exactly sure where this money is going to come from, but I’m hoping it does…

Daniel is not happy!

J