This morning my six-year-old daughter and I drove to Arcata. Somewhere around Redcrest my foot got a little heavy and when a CHP car came around a curve in the opposite direction I instinctively took my foot off the pedal. I glanced at my speedometer, and I’m pretty sure I had slightly exceeded 70 mph. I looked in the rear-view mirror but the officer appeared to continue to drive south around a corner. I thought I was safe.
Several minutes later he was behind me and slowly came up behind me. I slowed to 50 and in tell-tale fashion, instead of passing me he slowed with me. He was just waiting for a safe shoulder clearing to approach before he put on his lights. I told my daughter not to be scared, but that I was about to be pulled over for speeding. Her response, a sigh followed by “Oh Dad, why did you speed?!”
When the officer came to the window, he waved to my daughter, and informed that one of my front lamps was out. Immediately my daughter said, “It wasn’t because you were speeding Dad!”
The officer giggled the whole time he was writing up my fix-it ticket.
….
Parenting side note here. Lilith had a cello lesson and then we had some errands to run, after which we went to a movie. We gave African Cats a try, which is a Samuel Jackson narrated documentary following a pride of lions and cheetah family through Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve. I don’t know if there was interference from the film makers or other contrivances, but it was very compelling story and educational for kids. Not all happy endings – some important lessons about nature and survival. It’s at the Broadway, but there were no kids in the audience. There were some elderly folk from one of the homes, and a couple of elderly hippie women. All of the kids were in watching Rio or Thor. I don’t think they’ve marketed this well, or some of the attentive parents would have their kids in for some kid-appropriate substance.
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May 21, 2011 at 7:09 pm
scott g
funny, Eric – Clary’s not infrequently got her eye on the speedo when she’s in the car, while Owen of course wants to know how fast it _could_ go… and thanks for the movie tip, always good to get something better than drek.
May 21, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Anonymous
So, I guess you’re not complaining about the CHP?
May 21, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Hank Sims
Those goddamn hyenas.
May 21, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Eric Kirk
Well it was kind of like professional wrestling. One day certain characters are good guys. Then they’re bad guys. Then good guys again.
But where I wondered if the filmmakers intervened was when the trio of adult cheetahs got by the mother and attacked the cubs. “Incredibly, the cubs stand their ground.” And then in the next scene you see an elephant driving them off, almost implying, without saying that the elephant had come to the cubs’ rescue. They kind of fudged how that scene ended, and I think the filmmakers probably drove the trio of cheetahs off and used some stock footage to make the point about “bullyers being bullied.”
But they didn’t save those other cubs from the hyenas. It would have been a depressing, not to mention short, story had the adult cheetahs done in the cubs.
Also, aren’t cat cubs kittens?
I also wonder why they named the “villain” lion king after the Hindi Goddess of Death.
So, I guess you’re not complaining about the CHP?
No. What would I have to complain about? My light was out. If the other one goes out, it would be dangerous to drive in the dark.
He was pretty cool too. He didn’t ticket me after my daughter gave me up.
May 21, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Kym Kemp
Thanks for the tip about the movie. I think my son would enjoy it.
May 21, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Hank Sims
Yes, I concur. The elephant intervention was implausible in the extreme.
That old toothless lion was a cad and a half, though, eh? I think we can all agree on that. Sure, growl down a crocodile, “Fang.” Big flippin’ deal.
May 21, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Eric Kirk
Yeah, when it came to the actual fighting, the lionesses did the real work. But then, that is the structure. The lionesses do the hunting, and the protector gets the first chunk of meat.
To be fair, the crocodiles weren’t retreating at the lioness roars. Fang did step into the water and drive them off.
But he was worthless against Kali, both times.
May 22, 2011 at 6:35 am
Anonymous
Holy Cow! I will mark my calender, Eric posted something at least semi positive about a law enforcement officer.
May 22, 2011 at 9:32 am
annonymoose
God invented cruise control to keep you in the safe zone of 5-10% above the speed limit and so you can dance with both feet while driving.
May 22, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Eric Kirk
Holy Cow! I will mark my calender, Eric posted something at least semi positive about a law enforcement officer.
I’m afraid, anonymous, that you’ve fallen victim to your own strawman.
May 22, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Hank Sims
I will stipulate to that. Still, your client’s case is weak.
May 22, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Sonia Baur
Only in SoHum would a person get a ticket for one headlight “out”, in broad day light when neither one nor two headlights were required to be on. Take care to have those little lights on your rear license plate functioning too!
May 23, 2011 at 6:34 am
Lynn
Very cute story about your daughter.