Monday, May 07, 2007

Chick lit moment, anyone?


Anyone out there read or write chick-lits? If you do, then you know exactly what I mean when I refer to "chick lit moments". My life is so full of them!! lol

For instance, take last Saturday night. I helped host a bachelorette party for my good friend Courtney. We went out to eat, (including her mom, grandmothers, etc.!) and had a great time at the mexican restaurant! We all wore pink feather boas, had silly masks, made the bride wear a tiara and veil, etc. Good clean fun!

Then we left there and the bridesmaids went on a scavenger hunt for wedding items. (something blue, a bridal magazine, rice, etc.) Then we landed back at Courtney's house for games and a ton of junk food. The other girls were going to spend the night, but I needed to get home for church the next day, we had something big planned, so I came home after the games were over - at 1:45 a.m. Not a problem - Courtney lives only about 7 minutes from my own house and its a pretty straight shot down one loonnng cut-through street.

Side note - since Courtney is a friend of the family, my mother is the one decorating Courtney's hotel room the night of her wedding. So, the bride's aunt loads up my car with His & Her robes, tea light candles, rose petals, etc. for me to pass to my mom later.

Well, there is construction going on at the big intersection between my house and Courtney's, so I had to drive around it about a mile and cut over a railroad track. I got a little spooked, because I looked both ways, no train, no lights, etc. crossed over, turned on the road parallel to the tracks (kinda wooded) and....train! Out of nowhere! Very weird. I shake it off, keep driving, and...a black cat runs in front of my car! I'm not a superstitious girl but I mean, at 1:45 a.m., alone, on a dark, wooded street beside a train track (of which there are rumors in my city that is haunted) then...the cat was just a little much! I was going to call and talk to my hubby on the way home, but I left my phone in my purse in the backseat, and couldn't reach it without stopping the car...and obviously THAT was not an option! So, I keep going.

I reach the next intersection, which is nothing but woods and two run-down, beat-up gas stations. (both closed for the night) I stop at the red light, and the hair on my arms stands straight up. I am so freaked out! I turn off the radio and start singing hymns. I look both ways - no cars. Nothing. Light is still red. I remember something my daddy taught me a long time ago - if you have a bad feeling, and you're alone, and its late - then just go.

So I went.

A few moments later, I notice a white car on my tail. I stare at the roof of it in my rearview mirror and notice the tall light stand.

Cop.

He rides my tail for a minute then starts flashing the lights.

My heart sinks. My palms go slick. I have NEVER been pulled over before. Almost 8 years of driving, and never been stopped for anything, ever. Not once. I'm a mess. (and still freaked out! My writer's imagination is going strong! "what if that's not a real cop? what if that's a mass murderer with a fake light and a really big gun and..."

I pull over into a LIT gas station at the next intersection, and try to remember what to do. Hands on wheel. Breathe. Smile. Stop crying. Relax. Don't throw up.

Forget it, I'm hysterical.

The officer strolls to the window and peeks inside. "You couldn't have waited just 3 more seconds for that light, could you little lady?" Then he sees my face and I promise you, he tries to hide a laugh! I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights. He waits for an explanation.
I blubber one out. "I'm sorry, I know it was wrong, I totally ran that light, I was scared, I had such a bad feeling, was just so scared, I'm alone, trying to go home, my husband's waiting for me, I was just scared!"

By then another cop joins the first one at the window, both kind, grandfatherly types, and the second one takes his walkie talkie off his hip. :::Squawk::: "Yep, she was scared." ::Squawk:: I'm mortified - who was he telling???? And still crying, by the way.

"License and registration, ma'am."

I fumble for the glove box, shaking so bad I can barely open it. I'm in my new car and not sure what the paperwork looks like, so I hand him what I think it is and squeak "Is that it?" And he again tries not to laugh as he nods. "Yes ma'am."

The second cop leans in the window again. "We've had a lot of wrecks at that intersection, miss. We don't want to see you airlifted out of there because you ran a light and had a wreck."

I shake my head so fast my hair whips in front of my face and sticks to my tears. "No sir, I don't want that either!" I'm almost wailing.

"What were you scared of, miss?"

"Just had a bad feeling. I'm alone and it's late and I got spooked earlier, and just wanted to get home." I told the cop what my dad had always told me about going through the light if I feel as if I'm in danger. I finished with "I just had such a bad feeling, like I was being watched."

The second cop cracks up. I mean, stomach-holding cracks up! "Well, that's probably because we were the ones watching you!"

After that, the first cop taps the window base of my car and (still holding back a grin, I could just tell!) says "All right, little lady, you just be more careful next time."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sirs."

I roll up my window, turn to put my registration up - and through my tears see the bottle of wine on my floorboard that was part of the honeymoon package from the bride's aunt. WHOOPS. It was closed, which I think means its legal to have in the car, but I'm so relieved those nice officers didn't see it! It probably would have given my story much less merit. (especially seeing how Saturday night was Cinco de Mayo, so drunks were out in full force!)

Whew. I made it home after that, safe and sound, with quite the story for my hubby.

And trust me, my husband had a LOT of fun telling my sunday school class the next morning that I was pulled over for the first time in my life for running a red light, at 1:45 a.m., on the way home from a bachelorette party, on Cinco de Mayo, with a bottle of wine on the floorboard.

So, yes. Chick lit moments abound!!!! Sigh.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You'll find it funny next week, I'm sure :)
Thanks for the smile today!

Georgiana Daniels said...

HAHAHA! That's a hoot! I can't believe you've NEVER been pulled over before! What's up with that--and you had a Camero??!! Glad you made it home safely. But isn't that amazing how you DID feel someone watching you, and it wasn't your writer's imagination?

Erica Vetsch said...

Wowser, you handled that better than I would've. I've never been pulled over either. And that so has to make it into a book sometime! LOL