So; I was sitting in my mini van, beside the battleship Alabama, logged into the guest wifi of an enormous industrial waterfront complex, looking at the Rendezvous Airgun Forum. I was boxed into a traffic jam, at the mouth of the George Wallace Tunnel, under the Mobile Alabama Harbor, waiting prior to the arrival of, the awkward insertion of, and eventual removal of the emergency vehicles and crews which began to clear the wreck inside the tunnel. During the first hour, they managed to get enough fine citizens to yield position, in order to insert the crews. About half an hour after the ambulance managed to back out of the tunnel (preceded by a reversing cluster of the police cruisers which had jammed themselves in like the proverbial cork in a bottle), a road crew began sorting out a path to direct traffic into a small access road leading to a parking lot surrounding an industrial building. We (referring to my fellow members of the herd) began to creep along looking at each other for signals as to which way and how to proceed. We all met - thousands of us - at a minor intersection about half a mile away. By then, we were all coming from many directions .... having explored alternative routes ... trying to avoid returning back to the interstate at the rear of the traffic jam.

Fast forward (HA!!!!) to a time somewhat after we had toured Olde Towne Mobile ..... and regained the interstate. I'm watching the 16 year highway trooper who has been tailgating me for the last five miles. I mention to Kelly that I suspect he will just ride there until he thinks of something I'm doing wrong. Ah..... Finally ...... BLUE, blue, BLUE .... WHOOPOOOPPPPOOOPPPPOOOOPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes - I've been looking at you for many miles, in heavy traffic, all going well below the speed limit. I pull onto the shoulder, then half onto the grass. I roll my window down. No trooper. I wait. I finally see him eyeing me in my rearview mirror. He motions me to get out and come to him. Guess I was a bit surprised cause I said ... "Me?????" He affirmed.

I got out and walked back to where he waited by his passenger headlight. Odd. I didn't understand what he said at first. I said, "excuse me???" He then repeated that "he thought I was following a bit close to that 18 wheeler". He appeared to be almost 16. Perhaps my expression included a bit of "tell me more ..." because he then asked if I was alright. "I'm just fine". He asked if we had far to go today. And, of course, we were two exits from getting off the interstate. He wished us a good day. And I was dismissed.

Arriving at the surgery center two hours after my appointment, we waited for a spot. And so; I had back injections, once again.

While I waited in the prep ward, I listened to a 94 year old man, behind Curtain #2, answering his Drs. Questions regarding his health history. The gent was apparently in such good health that the Dr. Inquired as to just what his secret was. "NEVER WORRIED ABOUT ANYTHING!!" He managed to wheeze and boom as a 94 yr old might. I was tempted to go over and tear back the curtain to see this interview taking place, but restrained myself. Next came the question I wondered too .... "If I might ask ... just what DID you do during your work years?" ARMY!! "Army .... what did you do in the Army?" "Infantry!, Artillery!, Airborne! ... Jumped out of planes!!!" Dr. Says .... REALLY? And you never worried about anything did you?" "Never ... and I never got married!"

Ok ... yes, it was an interesting and informative trip. I'm restored to perfect health and hold the keys of eternal youth".

Gary

Great story Gary, and you certainly have some good writing "story telling" skills.

Thank you Julio.

Glad you enjoyed it! The fact that you can read and enjoy stories in multiple languages is quite an accomplishment my friend.

Gary

That is an interesting day of events. Don't you hate "troopers" wasting your time? Really, traveling to close to the 18 wheeler? You should have pointed out how close he was following you! Aren't the troopers suppose to come to your vehicle, not the other way around?

In my youth a town cop pulled me over because I didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign.. He said he had been watching me during the day. I told him I had seen him do the same at some intersections, he let me off with a warning.

Wise old man, all I can say, lol.

Hope injections are working well for you.

Pedro

Pedro
Must be a small town ifin he was watchen you and you him . When I was in Texas , I was told to always get out and walk back to the police car . I have a 71 roadrunner and they always pull me over because it its a muscle car and I MUST be violating a law somewhere !
So after spending some time there and getting used to walking back (I drive fast ) when I came back to Michigan as soon as I got pulled over I flung my door open to get out of the car and I had guns pointed at me and told to NEVER get out and approach their vehicles!!

Wonder what the other 48 states prefer??

Thanks
Kurt

Gary
That is a great story but all to often they are just doing there job and saw an outta state plate and said aha there's ONE .
I was staying at a hotel in the quad cities going to a huge gun auction at Rock island the next day . When I left the hotel in the morning to go to the auction house I had the police following me for a good 20 minutes before pulling me over. Now I'm from Michigan and we haven't had front license plates since 1976! At least that's the last I can remember so my front bumper is always void of a plate . The police man was very nice but started to argue with me about whether or not Michigan had a front plate requirement . I'm in my truck with guns in back seat covered with a blanket AND gun blue books in the front seat . When he asked me where I was heading I told him to a gun auction . He then told me I guess your ok but heading the wrong direction " follow me " he said . I did and he showed me back roads to Rock island and turned his siren on and waved bye when we got there .

Before we left he told me he was waiting by the hotel for 1 hour for me to leave because I always back in parking spots incase I need a jump , he road by a saw NO PLATE on my front bumper !

It was a three day auction and I saw him the next day too ! I guess he had my number .haha



Thanks
Kurt

Geese Louise, Kurt...you're lucky they didn't ventilate you, "charging their vehicle" like that. Everywhere I've lived recently (AK, AZ, NM) they expect you to sit still with your hands on the wheel (in sight), until they come up to the window. Don't go fishing for your registration and licence until you talk to the guy, these days any extraneous motion in your car puts them on red alert. Like it or not, every contact with a police officer is a potentially lethal encounter...for you. Needless to say that risk is exponentially greater if you happen to be from certain minority groups, a sad state of affairs, but the plain truth.

We've allowed our police to become far too militarized, and as a result they've adopted a "zero risk for officers" policy nationwide which assumes that every potential threat should be dealt with instantly by lethal force. I'm all for hiring veterans, but the guys who have been kicking down doors in Iraq and Afghanistan are trained to a hair-trigger shooting response which is not at all what we as civilians want from our police forces. The police like to complain how dangerous their job is, but the plain fact of the matter is that the cops shoot far more innocent civilians every year than officers are shot in the line of duty, something like ten times more. Being a police officer entails a certain level of risk, but then again so do many other jobs. In fact, there are quite a few jobs that are statistically far more dangerous than being a cop. I think we're already well past the point where the police agencies must be forced to re-evaluate who are the ones getting paid to take that risk, US...or THEM.

Hey Sean,
Great point! It's also intresting when you compare are police to other country's police, quite a big difference. I got my vary first ticket when I was 16, rolled a stop sign! They proceeded to have me get out of the car after I recived the ticket, and then took a Polaroid picture of me wich I thought was odd and not of typical procedure, and then I was free to go. Never rolled a stop sign again. haha

Matt

That does sound like an odd encounter, did you ever find out why?

And yes, for the most part the police in the U.S. are not expected to solicit bribes, unlike many other parts of the world. In our country, we reserve the practice of official corruption almost entirely for our political elite...especially in Chicago.

Ha no kidding! Yeah never did find out why did not think to ask at the time..wish I would have tho.

Matt