(In 1989 I had a job working at the Media Business News up in Genesee, Colorado as a file clerk. I use the words “job” and “working” loosely, as I had no car to get from Lakewood to Genesee, so my attendance at work turned out to be sporadic at best. I usually hitch hiked up the mountain and grabbed a ride home from one of the staff writers…but that is a story for a different day. This is the story [true story I might add] of one of the times when I actually made it to work…)
I ended my workday early, so that I could get back to Lakewood High School by three o’clock. I had borrowed the car from my girlfriend, Marla P, and wanted to have it back to her by the time that school ended. I also needed to check on something, follow up on a little bit of business that happened earlier that day.
You see, while backing the white Ford Escort out of the parking spot, I nicked the shiny red truck parked next to me. I had left a note on the windshield, after trying and failing to locate the campus security officer. I needed to check into that and make sure everything would be all right.
Pulling into the parking lot, I knew that things were far from “all right.” Two police cars were parked in front of the school, and a buzz of activity filled the grounds. I got out to see what was going on—
“THERE HE IS!” someone pointed me out with an accusatory finger.
Suddenly I was in the eye of the maelstrom. A cop put his hand on my shoulder and directed me to the back of his cruiser.
“You had a little accident this morning?” he asked.
“Yes, I was coming to make sure everything was all right.”
“You should have done that before you left a note on the other vehicle and drove off.”
“I had to go to work.”
That pretty much ended all conversation. He wasn’t interested in my little job, or my little life, or my desire to make things all right. By the end of my long sit in the back of the police car I had a 16 point violation:
I ended my workday early, so that I could get back to Lakewood High School by three o’clock. I had borrowed the car from my girlfriend, Marla P, and wanted to have it back to her by the time that school ended. I also needed to check on something, follow up on a little bit of business that happened earlier that day.
You see, while backing the white Ford Escort out of the parking spot, I nicked the shiny red truck parked next to me. I had left a note on the windshield, after trying and failing to locate the campus security officer. I needed to check into that and make sure everything would be all right.
Pulling into the parking lot, I knew that things were far from “all right.” Two police cars were parked in front of the school, and a buzz of activity filled the grounds. I got out to see what was going on—
“THERE HE IS!” someone pointed me out with an accusatory finger.
Suddenly I was in the eye of the maelstrom. A cop put his hand on my shoulder and directed me to the back of his cruiser.
“You had a little accident this morning?” he asked.
“Yes, I was coming to make sure everything was all right.”
“You should have done that before you left a note on the other vehicle and drove off.”
“I had to go to work.”
That pretty much ended all conversation. He wasn’t interested in my little job, or my little life, or my desire to make things all right. By the end of my long sit in the back of the police car I had a 16 point violation:
- Unsafe backing
- Failure to comply with the compulsory insurance law
- Leaving the scene of the accident
- (the day was late, so the officer didn’t want to get into the whole lack of car registration issue.)
Mind you, the minor’s driver’s license only had 12 points to lose, so I found myself owing the DMV four points. Dang…that sucked.
(To be continued...)
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