Can I See Your License and Registration?

Stardate 3938.2

It was about 10:00 or so last night, and we had to go and pick up my son at his friends. My brother was down so we had had a few beers. No big deal. My wife was going to drive (she hadn't had anything to drink) so we all pile in the car for the trek across town.

Spirits were high, and we were having fun visiting and soon we would be home again to watch "Galaxy Quest" or do some other bit of important drinking or whatnot... Everything was going great!

We got to my son's friends and picked him up. Heading home, we took the long route around town, and sure enough, the Policeman (hereby referred to as "The Fuzz") was coming around a corner right beside us. The big problem here is that I have only one headlight at the moment. D'oh! He had us for sure. The red and blue swirly lights came on, and our hearts lept in trepidition. Visions of some retardedly expensive ticket filled our heads and we wished we had simply gone and bought a $13 headlamp.

"The reason I pulled you over is because you have a broken headlight" The Fuzz stated. "Can I see your license and registration please?"

Well guess what? My wife forgot her purse at home. We were only nipping across town after all (maybe a dozen blocks at best)... I opened the glove box and proferred several small black plastic registration sleeves to the officer. Well suddenly, the jubilation from before was gone. The ability to not produce a license is bad news at best. We were all suddenly a little anxious. But it got worse.

"Sir, I hope for your sake that you have current insurance to show me" says The Fuzz. The anxiety kicked into high gear. It seems the newest little bit of folded pink paper in either of the small black plastic registration sleeves was from 2003. What had I done? My wife was already faced with a ticket for not being able to produce her license, we had a broken headlamp, and now, no insurance papers to show??

Panic set in as The Fuzz retreated to his cruiser to check out all of our information. We were looking at a hefty fine for everything now, though we knew I had insurance since we pay itr every damn month. At worst case, they would tow the car and we would be stuck with that bill as well. I had no other papers in the glove box. We racked our brains thinking of a thousand letters from the Insurance people, and where these things are generally kept... It looked glum for sure.

The Fuzz came back from his cruiser, and approached our vehicle. I expected the worst. We were likely all tense like cats about to get hit by a speeding vehicle and he said "Today is your lucky day..."

We got a ticket for not producing a license, and nothing for the headlamp, and nothing for the insurance BUT now, we had to FIND proof of insurance and give it to him by 6:00 tonight! The Fuzz even let us drive home with no tow and impound. All things considered, the ticket we got was awesome! It was a super reminder, though expensive, to always carry this stuff and remember to keep everything up to date.

The big concern now was that if I didn't have the insurance paper in my car, where the hell was it? We got home after The Fuzz let us go, and the frenzied search began. No clue. We looked in jackets, wallets, drawers, boxes, containers... nothing. Panic was setting in again. But, then, all I needed was proof. I would phone the insurance company in the morning and get a new paper. Easy :) We went out to the garage so my brother could have a smoke, and we remembered that we had stashed all the old papers and letters in a bag in the garage from last year. On a hunch, my wife began thumbing through it, and BOOM! There it was! A letter from my insurance company about 6 pages long, and hidden away at the back was my new pink slips of paper!!!

The anxiety was lifted instantly. Relief came in waves like you couldn't imagine. Now we just had to show The Fuzz and he would let us be in peace. Naturally, everyone madly scrambled about, looking for their own registrations and such.

Remember, ALWAYS carry your operator's license with you. AND a $15 fix is far easier than a big fine for being lazy!!!