A Ticket to Ride (or not)

The house was empty when I returned home last evening, so I grabbed my camera and set off toward Sodus Point. I took a few photos down by the lake and then headed south out of town. I had no determined destination, just the thought that perhaps I could capture an interesting photo or two.

I was a little ways past Arney's Marina when I passed a sheriff headed my direction. He made a quick turn-around in a parking lot across the road and began to follow me. My mind made quick calculations as I glanced at my speedometer. It said about 40 mph. When I passed the 55 mph sign I sped up and the sheriff came flying up behind me. I pulled over thinking maybe he wanted to pass, but no, he turned on his lights and stopped behind me.

He asked for my license and registration and glanced at the stickers on my windshield. "Do you know why I stopped you? Where are you coming from and do you know the speed limit in Sodus Point? Do you know how fast you were going? Where are you headed?"

"Probably home," I told him.

"Probably or definitely?" he asked.

I wondered what that mattered and why he thought it important to ask... I hadn't yet decided where I was going next myself and here he was wanting to know. I felt a little like a scolded child and a bit like a rebellious teenager. Wasn't this still a free country? Even if he gave me a ticket wasn't I still free to go wherever I felt like going? My mind was spinning.

"I'm definitely going home eventually," I answered, and it was true.

I couldn't see his expression behind the sunglasses. He accepted my answer and asked if my license had been suspended. "No," I said, and so he took my ID back to his flashing vehicle and ran my license. Apparently having a clean driving record helps when it comes to traffic stops because when he returned with my license he did not have a ticket in his hand. "Watch your speed and slow it down," he told me, and then he let me go. And then

I decided to go home.