Speeding ticket...

To preface this post I'll start by saying that I haven't had a ticket in a long, LONG time. I'm usually the slowest guy on the road. It's not a race.

My friend from Tamara's cafe Floridita asked me to bartend for a wedding she was catering. I said ok, and we left Apalachicola at 5:30, giving us plenty of time to get to Port St. Joe to set up by 7:30. The last thing I said to this woman before we left is "Don't haul ass; I don't know where we're going and I don't want you to lose me." I think that spurred her on to greater speed. When I saw the state trooper (notice the lower case letters) I looked down at the speedometer and trying to keep up I was doing 85 mph in a 60 and she was still pulling away from me. She pulled over immediately and so did I. I considered continuing on, but I didn't want it to turn in to an "attempting to alude" ticket. Turns out it's the same state trooper that took me to jail for sleeping in my truck drunk. (which I took to jury trial and was adjudicated 'not guilty") When he came up to the window I said "Hi, Scotty, how's it going?" (He sat through my entire trial and he knows who I am) He said "where are you going in such a hurry, Mr. Tompkins?" I explained to him that I was following the boss lady to a catering gig and had asked her not to haul ass. Scotty said "you know I have to write y'all a ticket right?" I said "Be gentle". He laughed and then asked me for my driver's licence. I explained to him that he took it away from me a year ago last october and I never got it back. He didn't write me a ticket for not having it on me. (nice guy) He went up to the pace car and got Speedy's licence and insurance info and proceeded to write out two tickets. He's such a nice guy he nocked it down from 83 mph to 66 mph in a 60. If he'd have written it out for the speed we were doing it would have been two hundred something dollars. Instead it's $77.50. The boss lady's going to pay the ticket that I got, but I still get points on my licence. I had a spotless driving record. Dang.

Anyway, I did see a girl I went to highschool with, and the parents of a fellow my brother graduated with. Small world.