Before I got my driver’s license, I drove perfect.  My best friend’s dad opened up a Suzuki Motorcycle dealership just months before my 16^th birthday.  From lawn-mowing and snow-shoveling I had enough money saved to buy a motorcycle, but only if I bought it at the Grand Opening reduced price.  My parents went along because it was my own money and because I told them I would park it in Kelly McCarthy’s garage until I got my license.  (We didn’t have a garage at our house.)

Kelly’s mom thought I already had my license and thought nothing of it when I occasionally came and drove it.  Not having a license meant I had to drive perfect so I wouldn’t get stopped by the police.

Only problem was that the day I got my license it felt like a license to drive care-free.  Sure enough, one week after turning 16, I cruised through the 4-way Stop at Hampton & Walnut (after checking to make sure no other cars were around), drove 10 miles per hour over the limit down Hampton, and again only slowed down for the Stop at the other end of the block.  Only I was wrong about no other cars around.  There were 3 cops in the car that pulled me over and I got 3 tickets.  In Illinois, after 3 tickets you lose your license.  I had to fight it.  Fortunately only one cop showed up in Court and the Judge gave me a break, convicting me of only two based upon my arguing that it was really only one incident and I’d learned my lesson.  “It won’t happen again,” I promised the Judge.  Whew, I still had my license.

Tomorrow:  The Same Cop – Again!