Sunday, July 26, 2009

Do you hear the people sing?

My mom is an unfortunate driver. Since I've been alive, she has received 3 tickets. All three times, I have been there. The first time, Mom, 3 cousins and I were returning to Grandpa's farm from picking strawberries. Apparently she crossed over the center line, though she doesn't remember doing so. In any case, the rest of the day and fairly frequently since then, we sang "Mom got a ticket! Mom got a ticket!" and make siren noises. Embarassing for her, especially since everyone in the family knows of the incident and it is now a part of family history.

The second time, it was my 10th or 11th birthday. We were returning from seeing a movie or going out to eat or some such thing. In the van was Mom, myself and 4 of my bffs in 4th grade. She didn't see the reduced speed sign in the construction zone, and the fines double in construction zones. However, there was no good-natured teasing or singing this time. Nope, one of my bffs had NEVER been pulled over before. She ended up crying because she was so scared. Little anxious, eh? Two of the others tried to be bad-ass and flirt with the cop and said things that would get them in trouble. Not a good night for Mommy dear.

The third time was today. Mom, Brother and I were at the Mill City Museum, and underestimated how long we'd been there. When I went to put more coins in the meter, we already had a ticket. After getting over the exhoribant cost of being 15 minutes late to the meter ($42!! Why is it so high?), there was another chorus of "Mom Got a Ticket" complete with siren noises. Although it's not really entirely her fault that she got a ticket. I could have been more on top of time (although I did tell her when we had 15 minutes left, and she spent 20 minutes playing with the water tables in the kids area and even more time in the gift shop).

Mom laments the fact that she cannot get away with getting a ticket because there's always a car full of kids (though 2 of her own grown kids is hardly a carfull). She wonders why she can't get tickets when she's alone. I think carfulls of kids are distracting.

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