Trouble with the law.

I've been meaning to tell you a story about the road rage I recently experienced. But it wasn't really on the road and it wasn't really ragey. You see, it all went down at Safeway. In the little corner of the store where they keep the contraptions that you can strap not one, but two kiddies in, and still have lots of room for groceries. Something very much like this.

(I got the picture from this cool blog. I tell you this because
I didn't take the picture and stealing pictures is wrong.)

I had both boys in tow. The biggest boy was taking his time walking, and had to make his usual stop to pretend to buy some pop from the pop machine. I tried to hurry him along (because Mommys do that kind of thing), but by the time we got in the store someone else had just claimed the last "fire truck cart", as Max calls it. She had one kid. Just one. And a girl, at that. I looked at her for a few seconds, waiting to see if she would volunteer to give the cart to me. Maybe, she could have. After all, here I was with two squirmy boys and she had a sweet little girl. (Although she wasn't very little, maybe about 4 years old.) I didn't expect her to give up the cart, just thought that maybe she might. Well, she didn't. She gave me a very un-convincing "Sorry!" and huffed off. I was more frustrated about Max dilly-dallying than the lady getting to the cart before we did. But I was disappointed at that, too. The whole thing took less than a minute. As I gathered my thoughts and took a deep breath to shake off my frustration, I peeked around the Starbucks kiosk and saw two gentlemen with a kids cart full of groceries, while the little boy they were with sat with them at the table. Again, not expecting them to drop everything and go pay for their groceries so I could have the cart, I just wanted to see if they were finishing up. They seemed in no hurry and I prepared to go get a regular cart. Just then the lady yelled at me across the Starbucks tables and chairs ... "Don't be mad at me! You should be mad at these guys for just sitting here with their cart!". I was flabbergasted that she thought I was MAD ... I hadn't even said a word to her! I maybe cast imploring eyes at her for a nano-second but was very ready to move on with my life, and my shopping. They boys are just fine in a regular cart, it just means I have less room if Max is in the basket and it takes much longer if he's walking. I had a big shop to do so it would have made things easier. Whatever. I was over it already. I replied to her that I was not upset with her and we went our separate ways. I did my best to avoid any further confrontation, and was successful until the meat department. That's when I stood and stared at the ground beef for a looong time until I could skirt past her to the other side of the store.

Then came the real trouble, with the real law. Back in November we got a notice from BC Drivers Services or ICBC or some such official office. It stated that for Paul to maintain his Class 4 designation (which allowed him to drive a 15 passenger van for youth group traveling), he would have to undergo (and pay $100 for) a complete physical medical examination. It stated that if he didn't meet the requirements, he would forfeit his Class 4 designation. No problem, as he's not driving any 15 passenger vans anymore. We disregarded the notice as we weren't willing to pay $100 for a medical exam to qualify for a driving designation that he no longer needed.

Hhmmm, well. Maybe we should have read the notice a little more carefully. Yesterday he got a letter that told him this ...

"The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles asked you to have an exam under Section 29 of the Motor Vehicle Act to verify you are fit to drive. You have not met this requirement. The Superintendent has directed me to cancel your driver's license under Section 92 of the Motor Vehicle Act. This cancellation begins on the date you receive this letter or 14 days from teh date of this letter.

This cancellation means you cannot drive, and that any driver's license in your possession is no longer valid. Your driver's license will remain cancelled until you meet the requirement ..."

Shuckers.

I felt really badly because I had read the original notice and told him we didn't need to worry about it. I also felt really badly about the "you can't drive" part. Not so good. Not so good for getting to and from work. Not so good for the 2-day drive he's making up to Prince Rupert on Friday and Saturday. Not so good at all.

He was able to stop in at the licensing place today and smoothed the whole thing over. No trouble at all, and I think they will even waive the fee for a new license.

So that's that. After he told me about the resolution of this problem, I left the house to pick up Max from school. I came straight home because Paul's cousin was stopping by for a quick visit. I wasn't really hurrying, but it turns out that I was, indeed, speeding. It turns out that 21 kms over the speed limit is considered excessive speeding.

Double shuckers.

The officer was matter-of-fact, and graciously reduced my consequence to the lowest fine, and told me that if I pay it within one month, another $25 will be taken off the fine. And the kicker? In two separate locations this morning, I saw police cruisers just sitting on a corner with their lights flashing. Duh, what more warning could they have given me?! While we sat there, Max had all kinds of questions about what was happening. When we met up with Nicole at our house, Max was so excited to show her "Mommy's bad ticket".

It was my first, and hopefully my last speeding ticket. I drove on cruise control the rest of the way home.

(Again, not my picture)
And don't you forget it!