Friday, October 8, 2010

Motherhood got me out of a parking ticket. Oh, joy.



Yesterday morning, I was running around doing a bazillion errands; I'm speaking at Blogalicious today, and had to fly to Miami. (And, yes, this after the tsunami of guilt I experienced at the last blog conference). I left the car parked illegally with the blinkers on to run into the shoe-repair store. When I came out five minutes later, a traffic officer was standing in front of my car, arms folded across his chest.

"I'm sorry," I blurted.

"Don't be sorry!" he said. Pause. "I waited for you. I knew you were a mom. And you are!"

Er, wha?! I mean, I was driving a minivan, I was wearing sweats and I did have my hair in a ponytail, but, whoa. I would have rather gotten the ticket and be told I looked like Eva Mendes.

It's official: I'm mommified.

The officer was being kind and all, so I couldn't really complain or try to sue him for defamation.

But he wouldn't stop talking.

"I wouldn't be caught dead in that car," he informed me.

"Oh, my husband loves it!" I said.

"What kind of guy are you married to?!" he asked.

I feared he might start insulting the kids next, so I politely excused myself and drove home. Then I took a flight to Miami, met a lovely woman, Toni, on the shuttle bus to the hotel, and went out for 11:00 p.m. wine and sushi with her and her pal Deidre tonight. Wild and crazy, eh?

If only that officer could have seen me.

9 comments:

  1. I think a photo of the car is in order. ;-D

    Have fun today!

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  2. Hahahaha oh man ... at least your day ended with wine and sushi! :)

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  3. It's a Toyota Sienna. Evidently, I'm too sexy for my minivan...NOT.

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  4. At least he didn't say that THEN ticket you. Oy. Men.

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  5. Michelle, definitely NOT New York. :)

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  6. Hello, I LOVE my Sienna. I love changing the seats around as needed, I love that I can get the whole family in one car (my family size increases by two on weekends) and a child or TWO can bring a friend and my power door can open as I approach with the push of a button. I am not ashamed, not one bit.

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  7. :-) ... I wish he could see you too!

    I once got out of a ticket by saying, "I was just trying to hurry and get home 'cause these kids are getting on my nerves." He laughed and gave me a warning 'cause I was friendly.

    BTW: Came by because I saw your piece in Redbook magazine. Fab!

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  8. Any chance there was a car seat in the car? Because that with the minivan is all you really need for him to know you're a mom.

    BTW, the day we got our first minivan I actually I cried. I was so excited, but I also couldn't believe this was happening to me.

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Thanks for sharing!