Tuesday night another drop fell into my cup. Sounds benign enough, except that I didn't realize how dangerously close my cup was to spilling over. So close, in fact, that surface tension was the only thing holding it together. Wednesday morning I felt subdued, not my normally cheerful self. Imagine the wobbly moment when you wonder if the water will spill or not. Wednesday afternoon the stuff hit the fan. The cup ranneth over, and the stuff I hadn't realized was brewing came up to the surface.
And in the midst of all that, I had to go about my day. I started taking little (but giant) steps forward, squaring off with a few things that have been looming for a while. The clouds lifted temporarily for me to head over to the studio to teach a few lessons. On the way, I called Dad to talk about one good thing that happened during the day and hopefully put my spirit in a more positive place.
It was working. Nearly there, I made the final, fatal left turn.. and heard sirens scream out behind me. I pulled over and was approached by not one, but two officers on either side of the car. Strange. The driver-side officer formally informed me that I was being pulled over for performing an illegal left turn. I looked at him questioningly. Apparently the left turn is illegal between 4-6 pm Monday-Friday for rush hour. The time was 4:09.
He took my license and registration, and returned to his car while the sun beat down, burning my waiting and irritated flesh. An eternity later he reappeared, handed me the green carbon copy of my citation to mail in with my payment, the envelope, and the yellow copy to serve as my drivers' license in the meantime. "Excuse me," said I. "You are confiscating my license??"
"Yes, ma'am," said he. "That's the way it's done in the state of Illinois. We have to hold it as bond until you pay your ticket. Drive safely." And he walked away, leaving me alone to decipher the faint writing on the flurry of carbon.
Icing on the cake. My license is now being held hostage until further notice. And likely I'll mail in my fine, only to have my license get lost in the Chicago post on it's return trip to my house. The odds are not in my favor.
Stay tuned for the publication announcement of a book entitled, Caitlyn and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
3 comments:
oh Caitlyn!! Do you think you are so interesting because things happen to you or do things happen to you because you are so interesting?? I feel like I should help pay for you ticket since your post was so entertaining. Can't wait to see you and give you a big hug! Love, Aunt Candy
I wish I knew... sometimes I feel like the universe is conspiring to get me. Thank you for the sympathy! You can go ahead and mail a check to the City of Chicago. ;) See you soon!
wow, i can't believe that confiscated your license for such a minor traffic violation. that sucks. those things always happen on the worst days!
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