Sir, Please Step Away From The Ice Cream!

O.k. What is it with Cops? Dont get me wrong, I dont have anything against them as a whole. My brother is a police officer for cryin out loud, but every once in a while you meet up with one who really likes his job (if you know what Im saying). Let me set the scene for you...

Its Sunday afternoon. Its a nice beautiful sunny day. I decide to treat the kids to Dairy Queen, not something we do very often but what the heck, Im in a good mood. So, we load up and go through the drive through so we can enjoy our ice cream at home on the porch. Its a whole 7 blocks from DQ to our house, and as Im pulling up to park infront of my house, I look in my mirror and see a cop pull up and park right behind me. The kids start to get out of the car and then the cop turns on his flashy lights. I tell my wife to sit tight and keep the kids in the car. The officer comes up to my window and says the usual, "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"

Now, this is where I probably made a poor decision. Remember, I am sitting in front of my own house in my usual parking space, and he didnt even turn on his lights until after I had already parked. So I reply, "Oh, you pulled me over?" ;; ;;To which he responds, "Sir please step out of the vehicle." ;; At this point my wife is getting concerned, the kids are upset because their ice cream is melting and my 5 year old is saying things like, "Oh cool, did you ;;see his gun Dad? If he hit you ;;with his stick, it could break your face." I ;;make a mental note to teach my son ;;that sometimes its a good idea to just stop talking. I ask the officer if its alright for my family to get out of the car, and he says no, they need to remain in the vehicle. I say, "But this is our house, we live here." He looks around skeptically like Im lying or something, and finally agrees ;;release my family from captivity.

He takes my license and registration. I lean up against the fender of my car (on the curb side of the street) ;;and proceed to eat my chocolate dipped ;;cone that has since past its prime. ;; He comes back ;; and says, "Can you step over here sir?" Over here is 6 feet away and practically in the middle of the street. I dont know what was wrong with my side of the car... He proceeds to tell me that my ;;registration is expired and I dont have current tags on my vehicle. I tell him that I thought I just put tags on the car. He says, "Sir, please come with me." We go to the front of the car. "Sir, please tell me what date is on that sticker." I tell him that it says March 2006 (obviously expired). He says, "Dont tell me that you put tags on this vehicle. Lying to an officer isnt a good idea." ;; He writes me a citation and tells me that I have ten days to get current tags. Then I can go to the courthouse and show them the ;;current registration and they will waive the fine. I ask him if the ;;County sends reminders notices when youre due for new tags. He replies, "That is not an excuse for not licensing your vehicle ;;in the alloted time. This citation is not a free pass to drive this vehicle without ;;current tags." ;;

And he gets in his car and drives away. ;; ;; ;;