So Many Men….

Friday, February 9th began like any other day, and as it progressed I got most of my “to do” list done at work then headed out for the weekend.  My son’s plan was for me to pick up his best friend on the way to the big city to get him, then head back to my house for two days of biking, camping and goofing off.  No TV and no video games.

I picked up the first teenager and then the second.  Plan was moving along fine, we stopped for a quick bite to eat, talked to a guy in the parking lot with a super cool modified “Suzuki Samurai” then headed off to start their “guy weekend”.

Music, great conversation, lots of laughs from the old days when these young men were little boys.  Several “remember when…” trips down memory lane all the way from San Antonio to Bandera. It was then that our drama began….. I was on the very outskirts of Bandera when there were flashing lights from out of nowhere…

“What did I do? Was I speeding?” I questioned the boys as I pulled over but none of us knew what the reason could be. It was a little intimidating to know that both of them are knife collectors and I realized I had NO idea what illegal weapons were hiding within the cargo of my hatchback that was full all the way to the roof ! I might not have thought of this scary situation if the boys had not brought it up as they went into a slight panic over their contraband – this could be bad.

“Shhhh, don’t talk about that right now.” Was all I could muster at the moment.

They immediately obeyed and my son followed up with the comeback “Dude, I wonder if he has a tazer!”

It took a long time for the Bandera City Marshal to come to my window.   It was as simple as my front left headlight out.  I was dismissed with a written warning and we were back on the road.  About 5 minutes down the highway I passed a Bandera County Deputy who turned on his lights, made a quick u-turn to come and get me.  The boys began laughing, I must admit it was funny.  I handed the officer my previous warning along with my license as my son was asking him if that was a tazer on his belt and after a chuckle, conversation with my son and some idle chat he let me go on my way with another written warning.

So, at this point I have two handsome men in the car, another one back at the restaurant with an awesome car, now two police officers – this is turning out to be an exciting night. So many men, so little time.

But wait, there’s more, we made it to my town and the first policeman I passed flipped on his lights, clipped a u-turn and chased me down.  Now my teenagers were truly loving this and having a ball. This was just too funny.  He came up to the car and was met with my license, insurance and two written warnings.  He could not believe that I’d been stopped twice already.  I couldn’t believe he had “back up”.  Another car and officer, like I was trouble (it’s been many years since I was “trouble”).

He sarcastically says to me “Hard to believe you were stopped twice in Bandera, in one night,  that’s odd because they never do anything there.”

He made sure of where I’d come from and when I was going home and then he let me go with a verbal warning.  My teenagers were hysterically laughing at this point, with two officers on the scene I was beginning to feel like a fugitive.

On our way again, not even a mile from there crossing a bridge I passed a policeman who, you guessed it, flipped on his lights and whipped a u-turn as I pulled over –

“You’ve got to be kidding!” I said as the boys were cracking up.

As he approached he asked if I had recently been pulled over as there was a call sent out over the radio that a car matching the make and model of mine had already been stopped and for no one else to bother me.  I let him know it was me and showed him my license, insurance and both warnings.  He let me go without any grief at all.

Driving away I told the boys “This is the most excitement I’ve had in this town in the past year.”

We made it home safe and sound.   Think about this the next time you see someone driving with a headlight burned out, people do it all the time.  Not me, I get stopped by 5 different officers all within an hour.  Texas is tough on car crime !!

Signed,

The Fugitive