This morning I once again drove through the terrifying hills of Seattle to take KT to work at the aquarium. (The whole time desperately wishing that I had never read this!) When we arrived at the aquarium, I pulled over along the side of the street to let her pop out as I usually do. At that ghastly time of morning, there really isn’t much traffic so blocking half a lane isn’t really a problem. If anyone ever does happen to come up behind me, they always just pull around me. This morning though, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw a that a car had chosen to wait directly behind me. My second glance revealed that this wasn’t just any car, it was a police car.
I urged KT to get out the car more quickly as I glanced around frantically looking for a “no stopping” sign or anything like that as I tried to figure out why he would just be waiting there behind me. When KT was safely inside the building, I drove off …with my new buddy right behind me. About a half a block later the dreaded flashing lights showed up in my rear view mirror. Once again, I pulled over as far as I could in an effort to not block what traffic there was.
The officer slowly walked up to my window and just glared at me as I offered him my license and insurance papers. Then as I looked back at him in bafflement, he started figuring something in his head and using his fingers counted up to four. (Yep, I scored the smart cop!) Then he finally announced to me that it had been four months.
Huh? I stared at him more intently trying to decide if I knew him from somewhere…what on earth could he have been talking about. In a very disgusted tone of voice, he spat out that it had been four months since my tabs had expired. A feeling a relief flooded over me. Not only did I finally know why I had been stopped, I knew how to fix it. I rummage in between the front seats and pulled out the envelope that I had placed there over four months ago. I opened it up and showed him my brand new license plates. (In WA plates have to be replaced ever seven years…yep, not only do I drive a MomMobile, it’s old.) I admitted to him that I had placed them in the car and then had forgotten all about them. (Well, except for all those times that I had scooted them out of the way)
I was amazed at how the officer’s manner immediately warmed up when he realized that I wasn’t exactly the common criminal he first thought I was. He kindly advised me to put the new plates on just as soon as I could so that I wouldn’t get stopped again. (I almost think he would have done it for me if either one of us had a screwdriver on us).
Now I know that if I ever plan on robbing a 7-11 to make sure that I have current tabs on my getaway car…that way they’ll go easy on me….
Today I’m thankful for…having placed those current plates in the car…even if it was months ago!
I used to always let my tags expire and be one to two months late getting them renewed. I would always have to sign the paper swearing that I had not driven the vehicle with expired tags. I’m glad they never followed me outside to check. LOL
Phew! Glad you didn’t get the ticket!
What a dedicated mom you are, going all that way to drive your daughter to work! I used to have to drive Kat to Red Robin before she got her license and I groaned each time!
Carol
Hey Sue get those plates on your car!!! Good story. Your Mom mobile is a good name for the car.
Ahhh yes…the new plates thing. You know…they use to not do that around here. I remember being so confused when John came home with new plates. WTF? Next year I’ll have to get new ones for my car as well….which just figures I *just* memorized my license number!!! GAH! So I have one more good year..then back to square one. I swear it’s a conspiracy for us moms. How much more do they expect us to be able to remember??
Consider yourself very lucky.
I always wonder why state requirements are so different. It seems like such a waste to replace the license plates. In MD, we just keep adding layers of stickers on the plates.
Since we’re military, we can keep renewing in our home of record, and it’s a bit of a pain in the butt if we get another car and want to register is there. But, it all works out. But it’s still a pain
Whewh…I was nervous for you there for a minute! Glad you had the plates in the car! We just do the layers upon layers of stickers here as well, no new plates. Good thing too, because I’m the kind who would not only forget to change the plates, I’d forget where I put them! haha
Thanks for the nod! Sorry to scare you with that wild story.
I always wondered what would happen if a cop pulled you over for expired tabs but then you showed him that you had some in the car. In the midwest I always got my tabs in January when it’s -20F out and the plates are covered with a thick layer of ice, so I frequently put them on a few months later. The only problem is I think you can get ticketed just being parked on the street, so it’s not necessarily a foolproof plan.
Good luck getting those new tabs on!
Great story!! Cops sometimes make me wonder.
That is a funny one!
I am thankful that my kids are all healthy today!
Jay~they make you sign a paper? What happens if you are uber honest and don’t sign it???
Carol~where did you get that loooong name from? KT has 34 days until she turns 16 so that license isn’t too far off. Now, do I want her driving into Seattle???
Sue~Once again, I had to double check to make sure my mom wasn’t commenting!!! You “sound” so much like her!
Stephanie~you’re supposed to memorize the plate number? Huh…
Cheryl~I guess they figure seven layers are thick enough? I have no idea, I was pretty shocked that I had to get new ones…
Kell~so you don’t need yearly stickers? We never moved around as a military family so I’m clueless on that end…
Karina~I guess as long as you put them in the car…lol
J-funk~I can’t help but think there are so many other things to ticket folks for…who cares about the tabs! I guess that’s why I’m not a cop.
Mike~I once dated a cop…interesting breed…
Beckie~that’s a good thing to be thankful for. I agree.
Lucky escape! He could have been a real dick and given you a ticket I suppose.
Take it easy on those hills now that there might be ice on ’em in the morning!
WHEW! I got nervous just reading this! LOL! (((((HUGS))))) sandi
Oh, No, Peggy had to go and remind you of the ice on the roads. See didn’t I tell you its a good thing to keep everything in the car!
I hate that feeling you get when the lights go on – especially when you realize they are for you! Luckily, I haven’t had that feeling for several years and hopefully my luck will continue. I hope you’ve had a chance to get those plates on the mom-mobile!
I’m stopping by on my way to commenting on as many NaBloPoMo blogs as possible as part of the NaBloPoMo commenting challenge. More information is available here – http://nablopomo.ning.com/group/commentingchallenge
I’d never heard of that rule about having to change plates every so many years. I know that over here in WI, we are in the middle of a swap of plates from an old red or blue on white to black on white plates. After you get your black on white plates though, it’s just the annual sticker (this year’s is mustard colored – yuck!)
Sephyroth
http://www.sephyroth.net
My cell phone went through the soak cycle and it survived without camera or text messaging. I’ve used it quite a few months, but this week finally replaced it.
AND… I put my tabs on, too. I was so angry because I don’t want to have to memorize new plates.