Sundays in April are always related with leisure of color treats for the eyes and fresh cool air in a car ride. However, the pleasure could be so easily violated by an inhuman, unnatural intrusion, which is called the law. On the first April Sunday this year, I was stopped by a cop just half mile from my home for the reason that I didn’t fully stop behind the white line at the stop sign. It is worthwhile to write about it, because this was my first time stopped by a cop for something I’ve done wrong, in the cop’s opinion.

On this hill road, a bicyclist was riding in front of me. He tried to be at the right side of the road as much as possible. After the stop sign, a cop on a motorcycle just appeared out of the blue. I had no idea where he came from. Some people have this natural guilt whenever they see a cop, even though they don’t really do anything wrong. Well, I am not like that. I didn’t think I had done something wrong. My radio was loud, but the cop’s speaker was even louder. I followed his instruction to pull over at the road. I sat in the car, and rolled down the window at my side, just like what the guys do in the movies. (Thanks for the movie education. Later when I read the driver’s manual, actually there is a chapter instructing the drivers how to react in this kind of situation.) The cop was a little pissed off because I ignored his flashing light, and he had to use the speaker. Okay, I apologized for not seeing it. He then asked for the driver’s license, the registration of the car and the insurance card. I remained seated and reached these three things from my purse, very calmly. After a lot of radio noise, he told me the reason why he stopped me. I still remained calm, but the calmness was a camouflage. I was angry and afraid. But the fatal part was I didn’t remember what I did. Did I stop across the white line, or didn’t I? I was speechless. And then he gave me ticket and told me I had to go to a traffic school in order to dismiss my traffic point.

Twenty days later, I received the “bill”, 159 dollars. During these twenty days, I was anxious and tried to see the record on the court website, but it was in vain. They just took their time and let you know the result when they want you to know the result.

The money figure didn’t stop there. Traffic school, remember? I had to go to a traffic school. Thanks for the online service industry. I was able to do it online, and paid 28 dollars. Comparing to my friends who actually attend to real traffic schools, I think I was lucky. I can imagine it must have been a painful experience for them. All right, I had to sit at my computer and go through each chapter. You cannot just click one page after the other. They actually set up a good amount of time that you have to spend on each page. After studying all the chapters, I took the final exam, and I got 98%. Well, does that mean I would not violate the law again or not be violated by a cop any more? I am not so sure.

Now, when I drive, I always stop fully behind the white line at a stop sign. I am willing to do so because I just don’t to waste my time on these stupid things any more.