:drillsergeant: :dancing-banana:
Not all cops are out to harass. I got pulled over by a KY trooper as I entered a rural town at about 7:00am CST. I'd departed WV around 4:30am EST, and spent the day previous collecting donated Catholic books, all pre-Vat. 2. I had also purchased several bags of gifts from the shop in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. I had these piled up in the back seat of my car, enroute to delivery to a trad. school that was opening up, and for some homeschooling friends of mine. Some miles outside the town, a man driving a work van of some sort began to tailgate me on a foggy, mountainous two lane road with which I was unfamiliar. The van driver became aggressive, flashing his lights, blowing the horn, flipping the bird out the window at me. At last, I came upon a pull off spot, and shot into it, asuming there was something wrong with my vehicle. The man screeched to a halt beside me, yelled something unprintable about New York drivers, making me realize he was a Southern nut-job late for work who just happened to also hate New York Yankees. He took off in a squeal of rubber. I thought, "Thank you, Lord, for this pull off," and promptly dismissed him from my mind. Until I got pulled over an hour later! It seems he'd called the cops and reported me as a drunk driver. After a few brief questions, it was clear to the trooper that while I was from New York, I wasn't drunk, hadn't stolen the vehicle, had a clean licence, etc. But rules are rules. He had to pat me down, lock me in back of his car, and conduct a search for alcohol, drugs, weapons, etc. The only weapon he found was 100% registered and legal. In the meantime, he had piles of religious books and several bags of Rosaries, scapulars, CDs, chapel veils, Holy Water founts, etc. along with my clothing, personal effects, knitting bag, sketch pads and easel, all piled up on the ground. Then he opened the trunk and saw it even more full of camping gear. He opened up the first tent, looked inside it, and found the crucifix I attached to the roof vent. At this point, he stopped, and asked, "Ma'am, do you have any outstanding warrants?" I told him no. He said he was going to check me out, and if I came up clean, then he'd not bother searching the rest of my car. So he radioed in a request to run me and my lic. through the computer. By now, he was apologising every other word, and telling me how difficult it was to be Catholic in the Bible Belt. His wife had converted, but his in-laws remained staunch Baptists who never gave his family a moment's peace. As luck would have it, the computer kept crashing, delaying matters for close to an hour. In the end, I had no warrants. Unlike most cops who would have driven off with a "Have a nice day!" leaving me to repack the car, this officer bought a couple of coffees and sandwiches, and spent over an hour helping me repack the car. So it goes to show some cops are still gentlemen, and Catholic, as well!