Driving home after a long workday is never easy – rush hour, crowded expressways, aggression and anger. Personally, I avoid expressways as much as possible, but my route through city back streets often has me biting my nails and wearing out the car’s brakes and horn.
Really, people: a stop sign means that you are supposed to STOP your vehicle, not keep rolling slowly with an eye to stomping on the gas pedal as soon as there’s a two-inch break in oncoming traffic.
Bicyclists: the narrow far right lane is there for a reason, and there’s a reason it has the picture of a bicycle painted on it – maybe it’s specifically for your use? Do you think? And I hate to tell you, but the stoplight and stop sign rules apply to you as much as to vehicular traffic. Weaving around moving cars and trucks simply is not very smart.
Pedestrians: yes, you have the right of way, but use some common sense. Trotting across four lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic in the middle of the block, or trying to beat out cars going around the traffic circle, won’t get you home any faster – unless, of course, you plan to bounce off the hood of a vehicle right onto your own front porch.
***
Some days are worse than others. Snowy days in winter and rainy days in spring, fall, and summer can be nerve-wracking even when nothing else is going on.
I’ve already told the story of my red 2008 Ford Fusion, which was constantly followed through city streets by the police. [If you haven’t read that post, read it now, people! Jeesh, do I have to tell you?]
It was that same vehicle I was driving when this happened:
I was on my way home after work and had just made a left turn from Richmond Avenue, onto Forest, planning to then turn right onto Grant to head north out of the City. As soon as I was on Forest, I noticed a vehicle with emergency lights coming up fast behind me, so being a good citizen, I immediately pulled over to the curb to let the police car pass. It didn’t pass – it pulled up behind me.
WTF? I wasn’t doing anything!
But then I noticed another police car coming up behind it, and two more coming toward me from the front, all with lights blazing but no sirens. All three vehicles stopped, basically surrounding me.
Hmmmm – this probably isn’t good.
Then –
A large, unmarked panel truck pulled up.
WTF — S.W.A.T. ?!!
Now, I’m pretty sure I don’t look like a serial killer, or terrorist, or something, so I began to wonder if all those cops were there for some purpose other than to see if my driver’s license and registration were current.
As the S.W.A.T. team started to exit the panel truck, I glanced back and saw that the police car behind me had the driver’s side door open, with the cop crouching behind it.
Bad boy, bad boy –whatcha gonna do? …
I looked forward and made eye contact with the female police officer in the vehicle in front of me. When I saw her gesture to her colleagues to hold off, and then gesture to me to go on through, you can believe I took off like a bat out of hell – all the time hoping I wouldn’t hear or feel gunshots, or that she wasn’t just waving me on so I could speed off and then get a ticket to help her meet her monthly quota.
I never did find out what had happened on that block that evening, and everything looked perfectly normal the next morning when I went through on my way back to work. Just a normal daily commute.
***
How about you? Got any hair-raising stories to tell about your efforts to get to and from work?
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com or notcordeliasmom@aol.com
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Images by: Michael Gil, and Casey Kelley, and Thomas Hawk, respectively
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
That gave me goodebumps!
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It was pretty unnerving at the time, too.
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Goosebumps. Dang.
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Oh my gosh! I would have pissed myself!! I’ve only ever had one scary cop experience, and it was NOTHING compared to this.
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I only wish I had a camera in my car at that time.
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Oh, my gosh! That would have freaked me out so badly! 🙂 I kept thinking, “what did the lady in the car just like yours do to warrant THAT?”
Probably, out of all the years I have been behind the wheel, two incidents stick out in my mind. Both occurred while I was living in Lubbock, and both involved not having control of the car, which is probably why they were so scary. The first was my first time driving on ice. Nobody told me that ice looks just like water on the road, so imagine my surprise when I went to brake for a yellow light at the intersection of 4th Street and Quaker and nothing happened! I just slid right on through, getting a little sideways as we went. Thank goodness it was six in the morning and there wasn’t much in the way of traffic out. That had to be in 1984. I was taking the then-husband to work on base so I could have the car for a prenatal appointment. The second involved being out of power steering fluid and realizing that while driving back from the base one spring afternoon that same year. Nothing says fear like turning the wheel and nothing happening.
Valuable lessons learned, though. Ice is not water and besides oil? Checking other fluids is important, too. 😉
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Ah, the infamous “black ice.” Even antilock brakes and stability control won’t save you from that. by the time you realize it’s ice and not water, you’re sliding through it. Glad you had really good reflexes!
As for my S.W.A.T experience, while it was unnerving, I must admit it was a bit exciting, too, and I kept running various scenarios through my head – should I squeeze myself into the foot well of the front seat in case bullets start flying? Should I get out and just start running? Should I get out waving my arms really high in the air so they could see I wasn’t a felon? If I live through this, can I write a book about it? Fortunately, that lady cop made my decision for me.
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So glad it wasn’t YOU they were after, LOL…And yes, you SHOULD write a book. 😉
Yeah, imagine my surprise, a girl born and raised in sunny California, trying to brake on this new, foreign substance on the road. I was driving a 73 Vega wagon. Thank goodness it was a stick shift!
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Ha! That would be a nerve wracking experience CM – imagine having the SWAT team after you. Whew. You must be a rough character. Ha! And, of course, now your side kick Cody.
I must confess, I’ve hever had that many policemen interested in me at once. I have, however, had many instances of interacions with the police – some more serious than others. When your work is just getting to and from , it is a job hazard.
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I was just happy to find out they really weren’t interested in me at all. I suspect they thought my car was that detective’s vehicle – until that lady cop saw my face and realized I was an innocent civilian.
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Yikes! Not exactly what you want to have to deal with on your way home from a long, hard day at work.
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Certainly not. And hopefully won’t be something I’ll have to deal with again.
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Your SWAT experience takes on added meaning in the context of current controversies about police violence. The one about the 96 year-old vet in Chicago sticks in my mind – the cops say he was brandishing a knife, so they fired multiple bean bags into his torso and he bled to death internally. One would think there would have been another way, wouldn’t one?
Police violence is a trend, perhaps because the nation is getting statistically more crowded and of course the gun culture. I’m glad we live in a small town.
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OMG, that scares the hell out of me. Good thing I didn’t wave at one of them, isn’t it?
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Mom says to always wear clean underwear when you leave the house – even if it doesn’t come back clean after an adventure like this.
I have a couple of ‘pullovers’ to relate, including one when I was on my motorcycle, going to work. Being a Canadian cop, he didn’t pull a gun – just the typical cop attitude. 😯
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I may have to move to Canada. I don’t like seeing guns, pointed at me or otherwise.
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Reblogged this on Cordelia's Mom, Still and commented:
After a long work week, I came across this older post and simply couldn’t resist sharing it with you again. My new job may be the pits most days, but at least I no longer have to drive through city traffic.
(BTW, the best part of the story is at the end – be sure to click through to the original post!)
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I read that the first time around too, and it’s still hair-raising, CM!
Thanks for reposting it 🙂
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You’re welcome, Karen. Glad you enjoyed it (again).
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Scary
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Yes, it was scary, Willow, but it makes a great story!
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Wow! That was frightening!!
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Yes, but exciting in a warped kind of way.
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I know! It’s a one of a kind experience – hopefully 🙂
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