It's a balmy 17 degrees out with the wind whipping up to around 30 mph, we just returned home from picking up HRH at school and I. am. furious.
Not wanting to venture too far out in the cold and wind, Gremlin and I arrived at HRH's school 45 minutes before dismissal to get the last coveted parking spot in the drop-off/pick-up driveway. Mission accomplished, I turned onto the side street that spills out onto the main street, where the school is located. There is a crossing guard at the driveway exit and today, a police officer stationed at the main street.
As I waited in the line of traffic to make the right on to the main street, the wind blew over the construction barrel positioned at the entrance to the street. Traffic moved and I drove around the barrel, starting the right turn. The police officer raised his white-mittened hand toward the area I had just abandoned.
Obeying the usual traffic rules of the road, I completed the turn then came to a stop behind other (stopped) traffic. The officer approached and I lowered my window. He immediately bellowed into my face "When I say stop, you stop!" I responded with a dispassionate, "I apologize."
Is it done? Apparently not. He continues screaming "You see the hand? When it goes up, you stop!" He may have yelled something more, I can't remember what. It's so hard to see through the red haze of anger. Eventually, he went back to the job he is being paid to perform.
How dare he? I am not some juvie driving a stolen car, drunk or stoned, past curfew. I am a 41-year-old stay at home mother driving a crossover SUV with my two young boys in the car, at a school.
I am sorry you drew the short straw and got a traffic detail. I'm sorry it's cold as a gravedigger's ass. Maybe I'm even sorry that I misinterpreted your motion and didn't stop right away. But how dare you, HOW DARE YOU speak to me that way in front of my children?
I'm not going to pursue it any further. I'll keep my driving record the way it is. Instead, I had to explain the bad behavior of one whose job it is 'to protect and to serve' to the boys. And that the police - even this neanderthal - are still our friends.
Grrrrr! I am so mad for you!! I hate, HATE when I have to explain bad behavior on the part of adults to my kids. (From a police officer no less! Ridiculous!)
ReplyDeletePower-tripping authority figures are the worst. Sorry you had to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteFor all the mothers out there, you should read Emotional Intelligence, you`ll learn how to better behave with your kids.
ReplyDeletegive it a try
I think I might have burst into tears! Good for you for keeping your cool! The other day, an old man barely scraped past my van as I was stopped at a red light (behind another stopped car), blowing his horn and shaking his fist the entire time - because, apparently, I should have been right on top of the car in front of me so that he could wedge his way into a second lane up ahead. I had to tell the kids that the old man was clearly a victim of senile dementia, and probably drunk, and that we shouldn't harbor any impotent rage of our own. It was easier to laugh at him, too, when he pulled into a McDonald's less than a block away. NO WONDER he was in such a hurry!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm kind of pissed at that Marire's comment. Is she just spam or trying to pass some kind of judgment on you/us?
That's horrible. And I know that was a cop, but I live in fear of crossing guards. They're really scary, what with their whistles, gloves, and hand motions. I'm entirely serious.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry. Those are the kind of incidents that make you feel toxic afterwards. That dark energy is horrible.
ReplyDeleteOh my. Who pissed in his cornflakes?
ReplyDeleteWhat a dick.
"Cold as a gravedigger's ass" made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteThough you could get a white glove for use at home. "You see the hand? When it goes up, you stop,kiddos!" Okay, maybe not...
Wow, You are much more relaxed than I would have been. I would have asked for his badge number and reported him. Not that anything would come of it. But my goodness you were very ZEN. There was no reason for him to do that. ESPECIALLY in the presence of children.
ReplyDeletePS... love the line about the gravediggers ass!!!!
The police power trip makes me crazy. I can't even rationally talk about it. Sorry you had to suffer through that.
ReplyDeleteI got angry just reading this. So sorry you had to go through that. He obviously took out his bad day/mood on YOU. Not at all acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI've had one or two of those mean cop experiences that left me shaking with anger. I'm so sorry.
ReplyDeleteBut now that your boys have seen policeman rage, you can use it s a threat. "We CAN'T [do whatever annoying thing they're doing in public] or the police man will be very angry..." I can turn anything into an empty threat.