Mr. Pleasant Shady Cop Says...

Okay, so I'm working on getting things going, including- but not limited to- getting the title changed on the car.

I've also got a traffic ticket.

And lack car insurance.

So that requires me draining my college fund.

Oh, this just keeps getting better.

But because I refuse to have a completely depressing post, I'll let you marvel at the stupidity of me.

I'd forgotten about the speeding ticket, and it was bestowed upon me in April. Not a smart thing... the excuse at the time was lack of money and my insurance that was beginning to run out. So in the midst of everything else, I did the most illogical thing concievable and put it off.

And so...

Three months pass, and I'm still trying to get the title switched over, including a month's wait to clean out my education fund. Isn't it terrible? I'm using the last of the money that my grandfather put aside for college to get the title switched to my name. So I finally get the check in the mail last week, and prepare to get it put in the bank, which is where the more recent fun stuff begins.

So I'm sitting in the parking lot of Arsenal Credit Union after closing work on Friday night. No big rush for the check on my lap, still in its UPS envelope. Someone pulls up next to me, and I can see a cop go in and come out of the main doors of the credit union. Engrossed in my conversation, I can just barely note the movement of the car from its position next to me to behind my vehicle in my rearview mirror.

He knocks on my window and the following conversation ensues.

Me: Good evening officer.
Him: Are you all right?
Me: Yes... Is there something wrong?
Him: Did you know that you have a warrant out for your arrest?
Me: .............
Him: You'd better get off the phone so we can talk.

He wanders off to run my driver's license, and returns. I protest my innocence in forgetting about the ticket for a time (which I honestly had), and that the solution to my problems was the money on my lap. (Which it was.) Even so, he decided to play good tough cop and let me off with the equivalent of a warning and a nice teensy lecture.

"It seems you have a bit of a problem. You see, you haven't shown me that you're responsible, since you haven't gotten Honeytown County's ticket taken care of. And I don't know if you have anyone you can call to pick you up, or if you want to just sit on the phone and talk for a while, but I'm from Webster Groves. In order to get back to Ballwin, you're gonna have to go through my territory. And if I see you drive off this parking lot, I will arrest you, and lock you up."

I called dad.

And so...

Because I put it in the ATM instead of the night deposit, it doesn't hit my account until tonight. So tonight I hit up Progressive Online for a quote, and hit up Esurance one last time- and I'll have step one of (Cthulhu knows how many {but doesn't care}) steps complete.

Oh, right... and another thing...

I found my ticket, but not before calling up the St. Louis County Police Department.

Me: Excuse me sir, I hate to bother you, but I recently found out that I have a speeding ticket, and I really want to get it taken care of.
Mr. Pleasant Shady Cop: All right, do you know where it came from?
Me: Well, the officer said that it was out of St. Louis County when he told me about it.
Mr. P. S. C.: And where did you get pulled over at?
Me: It was at Big Bend, out in Ballwin.
Mr. P. S. C.: Well, you can go right over to the Precinct at Big Bend and Sulphur Springs and they can help you there. Just make sure that you bring a photo id.
Me: Oh, I know right where that is!
Mr. P. S. C.: Yup. Just head right over there, and they'll take care of you.

Apparently "take care of you" means "lock you up" in code. I walked up, not wanting them to randomly run my license and arrest me for driving five minutes up there without insurance. Lucky for me, they refused to run my driver's license with the knowledge that I had a warrant in front of them. If they ran it, then they would have been under obligation to take me to the precinct and...

You guessed it! Clink!

So, yeah... I backed my way out of the precinct and high-tailed it back home.

I said that I'd get the ball rolling on Monday... I think I moved it an inch. But at least it moved...