June 6, 2006

• A Wrongful Ticket?

  The Evil Policeman

  

  I was on a trip, travelling through a different state than South Carolina along with Katrina & co. I had set my cruise control- as I usually do now- at the speed limit. Sometimes it varies a little- it isn’t a new car with some of those nicer cruise controls that keep the speed within a few MPH of what you set, so sometimes it goes a little below and sometimes a little above by no more than five miles. I also keep my eyes regularly on the speedometer: it is a habbit of mine. I always know what I am going at. What else is there to do but watch trees, after all? Until, that is, I get pulled over on the freeway by the cop-of-my-nightmares.

  Once I am pulled over, he walks up and tells me he just caught me going ninety. No, not .90 mph over the speed limit- ninety miles an hour. I was flabberghasted. I am normally very polite and genuine to police- especially when at fault. In this case, I am very frank- “Sir, that is simply NOT possible. I set my cruise control at seventy- the speed limit- and while I will admit it might have gone as much as five over, it did NOT go close to eighty much less ninety miles an hour! I have never in my life sped like that, and I have only gotten a ticket once when I was sixteen years old.” He writes the ticket, and tells me that if I disagree I can show up in traffic court to contest it. We’re in a different state. It would cost more money than the ticket he wrote- at this point, I am thinking PURPOSELY wrote to be high but not higher than the gas cost- to get back there. But that isn’t the issue.

  “Sir, I was not going ninety miles an hour. It may cost me more money than the ticket to show up in court and contest this- but I am a man of honour, and it is the principle of the fact I did nothing wrong. So I will personally drive back here that day, and I will contest this ticket even though it costs me more money than the ticket- because I will not let it stand that I did that when I did not. I’ll accept a ticket for five miles over- but not for going ninety.” I was ANGRY- I mean we are talking righteously angry, but not impolite. I was going to see this made correct- it was bad enough if it was a mistake, but if this man was purposely doing this I had to see the misunderstanding made right before all.

  My heart was racing, as he looked at me- that nightmare cop…

  And then I woke up.

  Yes, it was indeed a dream. It was a very realistic dream, and when I sat up in bed- it was morning at this point- I was ready to get up and call a lawyer. I was ready to jump in my car and drive to kentucky or wherever it was (for some odd reason Kentucky came to mind- maybe because my best man Sean happens to be there and went there for police related reasons) and see that demon-cop put right! Fortunately, reality was there and I calmed down. No nightmare-cop, no ticket- I am fine, safe, in my house. I rarely get so caught up.

  I thought about it a bit, realising from conversations with my Dad (a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist) that dreams can sometimes give insights into things. This dream seemed to have absolutely no point or meaning besides making me frustrated as anything, but I thought about it. I realised, perhaps it points out a trait I have- a trait that can sometimes really annoy others, but I think perhaps we all have to an extent. Perhaps it most annoys those who inspire it.

  I have the gift of mercy- I truly believe that. My wife has a STRONG sense of justice and as such has trouble forgiving, wants to make people pay the price. I have an ability to give mercy and forgive- we talked about that in Theology 2 this Summer. Andre was sharing how if someone did something to his baby girls, all rules stopped- even if it was to his wife, he felt he could handle it under Jesus, but his girls… he just couldn’t control it, and he wouldn’t lie about it. Someone else in the class, unmarried, said he felt if he married and had children he would feel the same. I was actually feeling bad here- so I asked, “Is there something wrong with me as a parent, that if someone killed my six month old son- purposely or not- I would be hurt and angry, but I feel at this moment I could forgive them and try to even bring them to salvation if they were not?” I felt kind of embarassed- like here I am, maybe missing some essential key parental drive component. After discussing it, I think it became clear that this is just a unique gift- a way I am a little unique.

  BUT, I have a strong sense of rightness. Like my personality test a few entries down, I see the world as black and white- God and Satan- good and evil, and I seek to pursue right causes. I am, as my enfp profile would indicate, a “Champion”. So, when I feel I am wrongly accused or that I am pursuing a right cause or sharing a truth, I can be relentless- if controlled and not over emotional- in seeing it resolved. Resolution- that is it. I desire, and I am tireless, in seeing resolution found. And perhaps this dream indicates something of that feeling- to see something I feel is wrong occur (obviously, just a dream) and then my inability to see it stand unchallenged even if it costs me to see it righted. Be it me, be it someone else- I even get that same feeling on others behalves, and sometimes annoy my Sister or Katrina because I want so badly to see them stand up for themselves just like I would. “How DARE that professor treat you that way, Colleen? You should confront him- and if he doesn’t change it, then you should report him! He has no right to treat you unfairly just because you are quiet and won’t defend yourself.”

  It is something worth thinking about a little more, since I think truly this is a trait of who I am and something God made a part of me- but can also be taken too far, when there are times in a Christian life that we must be willing to take injustice for the sake of Christ.

  -Patrick

  • 9:06 am
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