Susiej

I’m following my husband home from the lake, and he drives fast. I try to keep up, but I just can’t. I just don’t like to drive THAT fast. But we were just “going with the traffic.”

So, I slow down, and I get a speeding ticket. Not my husband, and not all of those “going with the traffic.” Me. I call my husband while the “officer” is in his car writing my ticket, and all I can hear on his end is howls of laughter.

This was my second speeding ticket this year, so no, it was not like getting the first door ding on my new car. I’m only human you know. I made a post-it note on my dashboard to remind me that if I get another one — well, it just isn’t going to be much fun.

Soooo, instead of writing the check right away, and moving on, I keep the ticket in my purse. Somehow the date, September 30 came in my head. The day crept up on me — until it was the 26th, and I remembered. I pulled the ticket out and glanced at it and saw that you could pay it online.

Oh, I thought. I’ll just do that — later. So, last night, I remembered it. At 2 a.m. So, I pulled myself out of bed, found the ticket, and read this: You must appear in court or pay by SEPTEMBER 13, 2007. OMG. I run, don’t walk, to google, and search, “what happens if I don’t pay a traffic ticket,” and read words like suspension, jail, — and it’s 2 a.m. on a Thursday night.

So I decide to just hurry up and pay it on-line. I fill out the form, type in the numbers on my credit card, peering through the dark, only to get to the end of the form and it says, PRINT THIS, sign and mail. Mail?! That is not “Pay Online.”

Geesh. I’m in hot water. Because cops are not nice. I somehow managed to sleep, by listening to this CD and actually felt good — I focused on the fact that my kids were still alive, and “important” stuff like that. Even though my kids would have to see me from a jail cell for awhile. But, I think I heard my Mom’s voice, just as I drifted to sleep, in just the way she would brush this whole thing off, saying “Oh, that is nothing to get upset about. This stuff happens all the time to people just like you.” Sometimes what you miss/need the most about someone is their ability to refuse to take you so seriously. It was so real, so her, and so deeply true and it became hard to think anymore about the little country town where I got the ticket, and the Barney Fife-type officers who would want to throw the book at me. Why do I deny myself this kind of peace?  Why don’t I have her laissez-faire attitude more often?

The next morning, though panic set in, as it was time to make the call and face the music. Reality, and it was time for action. The offices opened at 8, precisely the exact moment when I had to walk my kids to school. (So many walkers makes it almost impossible to ride our bikes.) I was ready with re-dial on my cell phone. I start calling the little country courthouse at 8 a.m. sharp. They answered right away.

“Hi, I’m really worried there’s a warrant out for my arrest, could you check please?” Of course, it’s crowded on the playground, I can barely hear, so I have to talk LOUDLY.

So, I explain, and explain. And she starts apologizing to me about their computers being down, and they’re so behind in paperwork, and she was nice. Not like the Barney Fife guy, very nice. She took my credit card information right over the phone, and that was that. When I’m done, I grabbed my friend Sarah, and said, “Their computers are down, and I don’t have to go to jail!” She looked a little concerned, but happy for me.

I don’t think I’ve had such a wonderful morning in a loooong time. The trees never looked taller, the grass never greener, and the sky never bluer. I will try to remember that little early morning talk my Mom had with me, the next time I panic.

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1. Saying Goodbye
2. Before that day, what were you grateful for?
3. How My Mom Communicates With Me
4. Dining in a wine-list restaurant with kids
5. Processing

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