yesterday i got pulled over by a grand prairie police officer ... and it was largely uneventful.
with the current state of police relations, we often see the varying extremes of interactions with the police. -- those very damaging exchanges where some unarmed person ends up dead or the really heartwarming experiences that make us smile and maybe even laugh. those make the news because they are ... well, newsworthy.
i don't get pulled over often. and before yesterday, my last experience with a dfw-area police officer in 2012 wasn't the most pleasant. (as a side note, i just re-read this post and realized i got pulled over about three years ago for the same thing sandra bland was killed for in 2015. re-reading that was more than sobering.)
except from 3/21/12:
fast-forward to 2017. my niece and i were driving home from dallas. i had helped out at her school field trip at the perot museum. yes, me, the PANK, with a group of 9 and 10 year old girls. do i really have to tell you how tired i was?
so, i'm cruising down i-20, and i guess i was cruising a little too fast. the gppd pulled me over for going about 10 miles over the speed limit. i really felt like i was going with the flow of traffic, but again, i was exhausted, so i probably wasn't at peak awareness. as he pulled me over, he communicated with me through the passenger window so as to keep himself out of harm's way. i already had my credentials out when he approached. he asked me where i was going, and i told him, "i'm headed home. i have my niece in the back (pointing to her as she waves from the back seat) and we are heading home from her school field trip at the perot museum." he explains why he has pulled me over. i reply, "ok. i felt like i was going with the flow of traffic. but ok."
he goes back to his car and returns after a few minutes. and he says, "can you roll down the passenger window?" to which i just kinda gave him this look like, "why?" and then he said, "is it ok if i give your niece a sticker?" and i said, "oh! sure, of course." so, he gave her the sticker and he gave me a warning. and all was right with the world. not because i didn't get a ticket (if you read my 2012 post, i didn't get a ticket then either). all was right with the world because we communicated with MUTUAL respect. even if i had received a ticket yesterday, that would have been a fair experience.
for me, both events will remain etched in my memory for years to come (partly because i've memorialized them on this blog.) and this is because your actions and your words matter. but what's even better is my 10-year old niece witnessed a positive exchange, which will shape her experiences as she gets older.
so, yesterday was no big deal. it's probably not even worth a blog post, but i wanted to share because as with most things in life we tend to accentuate the very positive or the very negative and the everyday run-of-the-mills things often get overlooked.
yesterday was a good, uneventful day.
with the current state of police relations, we often see the varying extremes of interactions with the police. -- those very damaging exchanges where some unarmed person ends up dead or the really heartwarming experiences that make us smile and maybe even laugh. those make the news because they are ... well, newsworthy.
i don't get pulled over often. and before yesterday, my last experience with a dfw-area police officer in 2012 wasn't the most pleasant. (as a side note, i just re-read this post and realized i got pulled over about three years ago for the same thing sandra bland was killed for in 2015. re-reading that was more than sobering.)
except from 3/21/12:
about two weeks ago i was stopped in irving because i looked suspicious driving the lexus i own and drive daily in dfw. the police officer pulled me over for allegedly not signaling as i changed lanes (i am pretty sure i did, but even if i didn't, no one gives tickets for that in dfw). once stopped he proceeded to question me about where i was going (home), who i was following (no one) and if my name was really melyssa (yes, that is my legal name on my birth certificate and everything). once i showed him my credentials he let me go with a simple, "drive safe!"
fast-forward to 2017. my niece and i were driving home from dallas. i had helped out at her school field trip at the perot museum. yes, me, the PANK, with a group of 9 and 10 year old girls. do i really have to tell you how tired i was?
so, i'm cruising down i-20, and i guess i was cruising a little too fast. the gppd pulled me over for going about 10 miles over the speed limit. i really felt like i was going with the flow of traffic, but again, i was exhausted, so i probably wasn't at peak awareness. as he pulled me over, he communicated with me through the passenger window so as to keep himself out of harm's way. i already had my credentials out when he approached. he asked me where i was going, and i told him, "i'm headed home. i have my niece in the back (pointing to her as she waves from the back seat) and we are heading home from her school field trip at the perot museum." he explains why he has pulled me over. i reply, "ok. i felt like i was going with the flow of traffic. but ok."
he goes back to his car and returns after a few minutes. and he says, "can you roll down the passenger window?" to which i just kinda gave him this look like, "why?" and then he said, "is it ok if i give your niece a sticker?" and i said, "oh! sure, of course." so, he gave her the sticker and he gave me a warning. and all was right with the world. not because i didn't get a ticket (if you read my 2012 post, i didn't get a ticket then either). all was right with the world because we communicated with MUTUAL respect. even if i had received a ticket yesterday, that would have been a fair experience.
for me, both events will remain etched in my memory for years to come (partly because i've memorialized them on this blog.) and this is because your actions and your words matter. but what's even better is my 10-year old niece witnessed a positive exchange, which will shape her experiences as she gets older.
so, yesterday was no big deal. it's probably not even worth a blog post, but i wanted to share because as with most things in life we tend to accentuate the very positive or the very negative and the everyday run-of-the-mills things often get overlooked.
yesterday was a good, uneventful day.
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