Meg,

Cops used to make me nervous..until I became one.You just have to come to terms with the fact that they are ordinary people. I still get a little lump in my stomach when I get pulled over.

Really? Cops even get that feeling when they get pulled over? I find that somewhat comforting. Oddly enough, I don't get nervous when I get pulled over anymore. The first time I was ever pulled over, I was hysterical before the cop got to my window. I didn't know what I had done wrong and I just knew I was going to jail. It turned out that he pulled me over for a broken tail-laight and he didn't give me a ticket, just a warning. After that, I did get butterflies in my tummy but it was always for speeding and since I do that quite a bit, I am now used to it. I don't get nervous for traffic stops because the worst thing that could happen is that I have to pay a fine. But, when I am around cops in ANY other situation, I do get a little nervous. I don't understand that, but it's true.

One time when I was pulled over for speeding, I was looking for my driver's license and before I found it, I came across my nursing license and I said, "Well, here's my nursing license." and I kept looking for my driver's license. He stopped me and said, "Oh, you're a nurse? Go ahead." I was stunned.

After that, I started doing that on purpose and they just let me go. Now, occasionally, like in a state such as Georgia, they are not so impressed. I did get a ticket once and was waiting in court for my turn in front of the judge.

That particular judge would say to the defendents, "You're charged with (enter the charge), how do you plea?"

They would say, "Guilty" and he would say, "I find you guilty on your plea of guilty, pay the fine."

Then, one little old man came up and the judge was trying to give him an out. The old man kept talking about shifting gears and the judge, trying to be empathetic said, Was it a GM car? I know some of them are hard to keep under the speed limit when you are shifting." The old man didn't pick up on the judges' hint so he was found guilty and had to pay his fine.

My plan was to just say "Guilty" and get the heck out of there. So, when I went up before the judge, he asked, "How do you plea?

I said, "Guilty".

He said, "Why?"

I was stumped.

All I could think to say was, "It was a GM car."

The courtroom erupted into laughter and the judge said, "You were paying attention, I like that." And then he knocked 10 miles off of my ticket and I was found guilty of speeding 9 miles over the limit when the cop had charged me with 19 and I was actually going about 35 miles an hour over the speed limit in the first place. Whew.

I have a friend who is a cop and I told him about my little game with the nursing license. He said, "Don't be coy, just tell the cop you're a nurse and he'll let you go."

So I did.

It didn't work. So, I'm back to being coy.

Once, I was pulled over for blowing a red light that I DID NOT blow!

I went to court, was found guilty, and I appealed it.

In the appelate court, I said, "As sure as he is that the light was red, I am that sure that it was yellow. I saw the light turn yellow and hesitated. Then I made the decision that it was OK to go and I went. And by the way, that officer wasn't very nice to me!"

Once again, laughter in the courtroom.

I won.

I don't know why I should be nervous around cops, in the past year they have helped me out so much that I should feel nothing but safe around them but I don't. They don't deserve the way they make me feel but I can't help it.

I have never had the bad luck to run into a bad cop so there is absolutely no reason for me to feel nervous around them. I've never been beaten, abused nor have I been railroaded, any of the things that bad cops would do. They have helped me more than once and I am glad that they are there for me.

Oh, there was one cop who, after responding to a domestic violence call and finding me crying, said, "Oh, stop that, you are being ridiculous."

I was hurt and scared and that made me angry so I said, "I hope when you get home, your wife smacks the crap out of you and I hope she weighs twice as much as you do."

Looking back, that wasn't the brightest thing to say, but I was very emotional.

So, that was my worst experience with a cop and that wasn't even that bad so I shouldn't feel nervous at all around the nice men who help me.

Oh! I just thought of another one. My only contact with a female cop was a bad one. She had responded to ANOTHER domestic violence call at my house after Vex popped me in my face.

She said, "If he had hit you with all his might, he would have done some damage."

Well, I never said he hit me "with all of his might" and my entire face was red and swollen from crying so I don't see how she could have thought that there was no damage. Later that day, the bruise developed and I went to a judge and got a warrant and a restraining order and that was the last day that I saw Vex outside of a courtroom.

But, all in all, I have no reason to be afraid of them and I certainly have been doing nothing but socializing with these cops so I have no idea why they are freaking me out, I guess it's just that there are so many of them and I have this fear that someone will say, "Hey, didn't I smoke weed with you in 1976? Let's talk some more."

But, I knew that I was heading to a cop convention so I shouldn't complain at all. The hotel that I am in is chock full of cops so I am in one of the safest places on the planet yet I am still feeling nervous! I don't get it. Oh well, it's my own stupid problem. And now that I am in a safe place, I am about to leave and go sightseeing.

I can see the Green Mountains from here and this is a very historical place so I am going to see what they have here. I've had enough of the lake, I am the only one who caught nothing but I had fun anyway. Now, with two days left, I am going out by myself to see what I can see.

By the way, Lennie, does it help if I was with 300 cops yesterday should I speed today? I have a hard time obeying that one.:)

Meg

By the way, ordinary people don't carry guns, sweetie.