Life Lessons
What I Didn’t Know the Night I Got Pulled Over by the Cops
And, I’m White
A few years back, I had an awful experience when pulled over by the local police.
For personal reasons, I left my house late at night in a frenzy. That was my first mistake. Never drive when your emotions are riding high.
Starting out eastbound was my second mistake. As I traveled down the road eastbound, I realized I should have been going westbound. No cars on the road, I quickly turned into the nearest parking lot to turn around. Probably too quickly.
Third mistake. I forgot to put my left blinker on, and turned quickly into an empty lot. Out of nowhere, the police siren was on top of me, flashers and all. There we were. No other cars. No traffic. Just me, the patrol car and two officers.
Fourth mistake. In my haste to determine why this was happening, I got out of my vehicle to speak to the officers. THIS IS A NO! NO! I was promptly yelled at from their patrol car, along with a spotlight directly aimed at me, to get back into the car.
Had I committed a murder? Was I on a felon’s list? Surely, it felt like I was.
A tad bit shaken, I quickly got back into my car and waited. They were the longest seconds of my life until…
