Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I honestly do appreciate your service, but...

The other day I stopped a guy for driving 15 miles per hour over the limit in a school zone. This is an elementary school on a 2-lane road with buses and parents dropping kids off, and kids crossing the street, so I take speed enforcement there pretty seriously. When I politely presented the citation to the driver, we had the following exchange:

Driver: "I haven't had a ticket since I was a teenager. I was on my way to the VA, you know".

Me: (silent)

Driver: "You must not have much to do if you're out picking on guys like me".

Me: (silent)

Driver: "I bet you feel pretty good about yourself, picking on military men".

Me: "Sir, I'm a Marine Corps veteran myself. I served six years in combat infantry. And I'm not picking on anybody. I'm trying to keep these kids from getting run over by people driving carelessly. I feel pretty good about all of that".

Driver: "Well, why don't you go out and pick on some of your buddies?" (throws citation onto floor and drives off)

Had I been thinking more quickly, I'd've asked him if he was pissed off because I was trying to make sure he didn't run down a first-grader, or because he thought he was above the law because he was a military veteran. Please - if you get stopped by a cop, DON'T play the veteran card to get out of a ticket. Veterans like me don't like it.

2 comments:

Heidi said...

Oh well, if he's on his way to the VA then he has served his country and has every right to speed in school zones and endanger the lives of children. He was a moron.

CG said...

I love self righteous people. /sarcasm