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wandaredhead

Bless His Heart

19 years ago

My truck was a-rockin' on our trip home from visiting my new grandson yesterday.

It was late in the day; about 8 pm or so.

I had Christian, as well as my 13 and my 5-year-old granddaughters, whom were all excited about their new baby brother.

We had the music turned up pretty loud, were all singing, clapping our hands in time with the music (somewhat) and just having a good time.

It happened on a long, dark stretch of the road I travel almost daily.

I saw an oncoming car approaching and I let up on the gas a bit but not quite enough and not quick enough.

Yes, he caught me on radar.

I have been driving for 39 years (count them...39 years) and this was the very first time I have ever been pulled over for anything...not for speeding, not for running a light, not for running a stop sign...never, ever, ever been pulled over.

I could see the $$$$ signs adding up and up and up as the officer made a U-turn and pulled in behind me.

As the officer was turning around and parking, I had already pulled over and parked off the side of the road.

To put it mildly, Christian was in the back seat in the middle of an hysterical melt-down.

I got out of my side of the truck and opened his door to try to calm him down.

He was rocking back and forth violently.

He was sobbing with his little hands on his face.

He was reaching for me and crying and screaming.

I kept trying to reassure him that the office only wanted to talk to me.

Christian was begging, "NO!! (sob/cry/scream)

Don't take my mama to jail. (s/c/s)

Oh, no. (rock/rock) (s/c/s)

What are we going to do? (scream)

Mama is going to jail. (s/c/s)

I wonder if my daddy is home yet? (scream/wipe tears)

Can he come get us? (s/c/s)

Oh, no. NO!! What are we going to do? (rock/cry)

Will they take us to the kid-jail? (s/c/s)

Will they just feed us bread and water at the kid-jail? (s/c/s)

Mama, will they gave you something to eat? (tears and more tears)

Will you have a bed to sleep in? Oh, no. (cry/cry)

Mister, please, please don't take my mama to jail. (beg/beg)

Mama, here. Take my beach towel so you will have some cover. (cry/tears)

What are we going to do? What are we going to do?"

(s/c/s/rock/tears/beg....)

During the time all of this was going on, I remember several times the officer saying something about, "Nobody in this vehicle is going to jail."

By the time things had calmed down enough the office could get in a word edgewise, I honestly think he forgot why he stopped me.

He said something about, "Ah, er, ah, you were driving a little fast. I think I clocked you driving 58 in a 45. Ah, er, I think that's what the speed limit is through here. Ah, just be careful, mam. Have a good evening."

As the frazzled young officer was walking back to his patrol car, I could almost swear I heard him under his breath saying something about "Note to self--never, under any circumstances, ever again stop that red-headed woman in that red diesel pick-up truck."

Comments (15)

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Poor Christian! What a trauma for the lad. Give him a hug for me and tell him police officers are there to help us, even if we make a mistake and drive a little too fast they have to stop us to help us understand we shouldn't do that.

    Then give him another hug from me:))

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Wanda, what a heart-rending experience for Christian and yourself...and of course the other children must have become upset too. I hope they were able to be reassured by the nice officer not even giving you a ticket.

    I hope you were all able to put it behind you and go back to celebrating the birth of the new grandson.

    Would it help maybe sometime to take Christian by the Police Station, or perhaps just a book about "the friendly policemen". It's so sad that he has such fear. josh

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    (((Christian)))

    What an experience. I'm sorry it was so scary for Christian. Josh has a good idea, especially since you never know when you or Christian will need help from the police. You don't want him to fear them.

    39 years? Good for you.

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Wanda, what an ordeal for Christain.
    I'm sure the officer had never seen a meltdown like that.

    What surprises me, lady, is that you've never had a ticket.
    Lord, woman, I remember a harrowing race in the fog to get
    to the airport on time when I prayed all the way. :0)

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Great story---tell poor Christian if you EVER get pulled over again, to do EXACTLY the same thing!
    Now, tell me about your cool diesel.....

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Bless his heart, indeed!

    I know I shouldn't be laughing because it was a stressful experience for Christian... and I know the fact that these meltdowns are not uncommon must weigh heavily on you... but I can't help it. I'm laughing loudly.

    I'm happy for you that the cop chose the appropriate course of action under the circumstances... but then I can't imagine an officer of the law with the intestinal fortitude to do otherwise in that scenario.

    Congratulations on your new grandson! Oh, and how do you go almost 40 years without a moving violation?

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    "Oh, and how do you go almost 40 years without a moving violation?"

    I've been driving for the same amount of time, and I've never had a moving violation either. It's easy. Don't break traffic laws. Or, get lucky and don't get caught. Either one works.

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I've never had a moving violation either and only one parking ticket.

    I've had a couple of warnings over the years - one when I was driving my little electric car ~ the officer followed me to where I was meeting friends for breakfast to warn me I had been going 30 in a 25 zone - neither he nor I knew the car would even go that fast so it was more a matter of warning me of the potential of getting a ticket without even knowing that I was capable of "speeding". I live in a small town, the police do things like that here:)

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Well that wasn't your best night was it? What an experience for all of you,policeman included. I guess you never know exactly when something is going to set Christian off,do you? Has to be tough sometimes.

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Poor little guy.........

    No, I've known some tough cops, but I don't know any who could have ticketed you in front of Christian. Did you have a talk with him later and explain to him the police are his friends? If he ever needs help he needs to know he can trust them.

    Like Michelle, I laughed and got tears in my eyes all at the same time.

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I'm one of the ones who wants to know how you went 40 years without being stopped for speeding. I seem to getr nabbed about every three years or so.

    I'm sorry that Christian got so upset, but on the bright side, I'm sure that traffic cop will never try to stop you ever again!

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Christian has been mesmerized with law officers since he was little bitty.

    His favorite show has always been "COPS."
    I watch it with him because of content and we always talk about what the person did wrong, why the police had to do what they did, that the person arrested is having to accept the consequence of his actions, etc.

    Actually, the theme from COPS was one of the first songs he learned.
    LOL!!

    He LOVES to play COPS with his little nephew and nieces.
    They played for a couple hours at my son's house the day I was stopped.
    When they play COPS at my house, Christian is always 'the good guy' and rides his 4-wheeler to capture the 'bad guys.'
    At my son's home, the good guys and bad guys ride horses.

    Whenever we are close to an officer, Christian always shakes their hand and asks them about a million questions.
    He has probably been in the front and back of a police car more times than some of the 'bad guys' in jail.
    He never misses the opportunity to ask and, so far, he has never been refused.

    No, I never know what is going to cause a melt-down but I had a pretty good idea when I realized those blue lights were for me that one was coming on.

    We have always talked about police being our friends, are there to help us, and to keep us safe.
    (My son-in-law is an ex-policeman so he has shown Christian a lot of 'bad guy' holds that police use.)
    I feel his reaction was based solely on the police was after HIS Mama.
    Made a HUGE difference in his reaction.

    After we pulled away, Christian started verbalizing some resentment towards the officer.
    I explained to him that the officer was doing what he was supposed to do...making sure people drive safely and follow the laws to keep everyone safe.
    I explained that I was the one at fault...I was driving over the speed limit and should have been paying better attention to my speed.
    And, how NICE the officer was because he could have given me a ticket for breaking the driving law but he just asked me to slow down and be careful.

    For the remainder of my drive home, I could still see the bum-fuzzled look on the officer's face. LOL
    Not sure if I felt worse for him or for Christian.

    Jan, Jan, Jan.
    I'll never live that down, will I?

    "I've been driving for the same amount of time, and I've never had a moving violation either. It's easy. Don't break traffic laws. Or, get lucky and don't get caught. Either one works."

    This pretty much sums up why I haven't been stopped in all these years.
    A lot of luck.

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Oh yeah. Can we have some details about the new grandson please? Name? Picture? You know, proud grandma stuff.

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Congratulations Wanda! Have you bought the baby any shoes yet? I'm so sorry for Christian, poor soul. He's a sensitive one, which is good, right?

    I can't say without tickets. I used to get them about once a year, then it was every three or so years and now I can't even remember the last ticket I got. But I also quit commuting 70 miles round trip every day. I love driving 3.6 miles to/from work now. yea!

  • 19 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Wanda, I am sure you would have reinforced all the right things to Christian. The little ones in your household are blessed and fortunate to be in your loving and secure environment. Mostly I brought up that issue, because I have been in uniform, or with my husband who was in uniform, and have had people drag their little ones over to one of us and tell them if they didn't mind, they'd call us and we'd come take them away. Then you see in the newscasts where a little kid gets lost or abducted and has opportunities to call or flag an officer and doesn't and .........you wonder why.

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