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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
May 22, 2005
Great state motto |
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Ever find yourself in a
situation where someone asks you a question and the best possible
answer is no answer or a lie?
For instance, I was recently pulled over by a member of
the gun violence task force. While I was waiting for the
officer to approach my car, I got my driver's license, vehicle
registration card, and proof of insurance ready to hand it to him.
Just as they tell you in all
how-to-deal-with-law-enforcement seminars, the officer approached
the car and professionally and politely asked for my driver's
license. Then he explained to me that he pulled me over
because he noticed I was not wearing my seat belt. I thought,
"Hmm, accurate and professional, two out of two just as he was
trained."
Then he asked me, "Why are you not wearing your seat
belt?" Not having ever had a near death experience, but
guessing it's similar to having your life flash before your eyes in
less than a nanosecond, a thousand or more illegitimate and
ridiculous reasons for not wearing my seat belt raced through my
mind.
My first thought was, "Sir, you don't have enough time
for me to tell you because you have some serious criminals to catch,
nor do you really want to know."
I then thought about the real reason before I opened my
mouth, but I knew if I said more than two words it would only make
matters worse. What I wanted to say should be said to
politicians who made the silly seat belt law just to get federal
highway dollars and not to a cop just doing his job.
What I wanted to say was that I have always felt the
seat belt law was usurping an adult's personal responsibility.
While seat belts may save lives, so does exercise; but we don't have
officers pulling cars over because they see drivers who have not
exercised. I added in silence that I wasn't wearing my seat
belt because if I crash and my body flies through the windshield and
lands some 100 feet away, well it's my body. And if I survive, bill
me for the extra time it took emergency personnel to locate me, then
pull the plug rather than keep me on life support. If I die
immediately, well, take it out of the shoe allowance of my next of
kin.
In my mind I was on a roll. I asked him, "Where
were you a couple of hours earlier when a driver on her cell phone
cut in front of me without signaling, then turned right into a
business, then made a right turn exit out the other side to avoid
making a proper right turn at the intersection? Or where were you
when those three idiots refused to pull over to the side so an
emergency vehicle could pass? Can't you see all those cars with
drivers taking their eyes off the road to look over here to see what
we are doing? Why isn't gawking and rubber necking against the
law?"
After all that frustration, all that would come out of
my mouth was, "No excuse, sir."
He took my license, returned to his car, ran a computer
check, wrote my citation, and told me to follow the instructions on
the yellow paper. Then he said, "Put on your seat belt."
This little 10-minute transaction cost me about what I
would expect to pay to vent on a therapist's couch. The
violation set me back $75. For $40 more I could attend a defensive
driving course to keep this off my record. And for a
convenience fee of just $5, I could pay it all with a credit card.
Professional, polite, and profitable. Now that's
a great state motto. |
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