A personal post

1955 Ford Crown Victoria

I rarely post personal things, but this is one of those times. This involves CliffsNotes® and cars and speeding.

When going to high school, I had an after school job. This left me with limited time to study which I didn't want to do anyway. If not for CliffsNotes®, I might have not survived. However, my personal opinion is CliffsNotes® has no other purpose than to help students cheat.

I had the job to pay for my car which I was allowed to drive for 1 week after getting 2 speeding tickets. My father ignored the first one, but not the second.

Coming home from school one day I drove as I usually did, fast as hell. I was pulled over by a policeman for going twice the posted speed limit. They had clocked me with radar.

The next day I went to the police station to pay my fine. The nice lady at the counter said it was OK. They weren't fining people caught by the radar trap on that day on that road. Whew! What a relief. But, before I could leave she talked to a guy at the back of the room and called me back to the counter.

She said, "You have to pay the fine. You're the one they set up the radar trap to catch."

I hadn't learned my lesson.

My father relented and gave me back my car keys. IIRC I was "on foot" for about 2 weeks.

A few weeks later I was pulled over by a state trooper. I'd just pulled out of the small town next to the one in which I lived. He said, "You better slow down. You took that last corner out of town on 2 wheels." Only a warning. No ticket.

Such is Kismet.

Afterthought: I have a friend who told me she believed young people's recklessness is nature's way of thinning the herd. She may be right.