The Root Beer Ticket

I just realized I never blogged about this story, but it's a good one and thought you all might enjoy a laugh at my expense. :-)

So, about a month ago, John and I were coming home on a Sunday from Babies R Us and Costco. It was lunchtime and I had a craving for root beer. Our regular grocery store didn't have Barq's, which is what I wanted, so we stopped by Kroger on our way home. John pulled up in front of the store, behind another car that was waiting for people. John ran in, leaving me and the keys in the Pathfinder.

John was in the store a while (maybe 5-7 minutes total) and I was starting to feel bad. We aren't familiar with this store, we're probably on the wrong side from the sodas and there's probably a long line to check out.... me and my pregnant cravings! Much to my happiness, John emerges from the store with Barq's in hand. I'm smiling at him as he walks toward the car, but he's looking past me. I don't understand.

He walks to the back seat behind the driver, opens the door to put away the groceries, and then I see her. The cop. The female cop. The female cop handing John a ticket for parking in a fire lane. What!?!? At this point, let me say that I had absolutely NO IDEA she was behind me with her lights flashing. I'm so large, I couldn't lean forward and all the mirrors were angled for John to see, not the passenger. As she's handing John the ticket, she sees me for the first time. I start talking to her from the front seat as John is pleading with her. "Ma'am, I've been in the car this whole time! I'm almost 9 months pregnant, I couldn't see you! I would have been more than happy to move the car! Please, he just ran in to get me some root beer!" Etc...

Apparently, we aren't very persuasive, because she handed John the ticket and drove off. He gets in the car and it's at that point I find out just how much this ticket is: $146.00!!! $25.00 for the fine and $121.00 for court costs. At this point, I LOSE IT. I start sobbing, uncontrollably. Pleading with John to follow the cop, I want to talk to her again, convince her she's made a mistake! $146.00?!? We've just spent the morning getting the rest of the items on our registry at BRU, trying to be cost-conscious about every thing we bought, and now this. Anyway, I proceeded to sob and bawl my eyes out for about 45 minutes. I mean, John had to help me out of the car when we got home and to the couch. And of course, I was so upset, he couldn't even be upset!

By the next day we were laughing about my $12 root beers though. John even was kind enough to serve me one in a wine glass, so I could appreciate it's bouquet and savor it. :-)

The resolution to this story happened today. My boss at work is neighbors with a district attorney, and she was going to get the court appearance continued for us. Why? Because it was set for TODAY. As in 4 days before I'm having TWINS. And I am in no shape to waddle down to the court house to represent my husband. However, the DA was also pregnant and happened to have her baby early, so the ball was dropped. I then realized that one of my other pregnant friends at work, her husband is also a district attorney. I called her yesterday and like magic.... he got the ticket dismissed! Not just continued to a different date, but dismissed entirely! No court appearance, no $146.00!!! Just a total surprise and it truly made my week. So, thanks a million to Meredith and Adam for helping a pregnant girl out. I'm convinced it's because Adam's with a woman currently 32 weeks pregnant that he understood my plight.... and I am truly grateful! Now, time for another root beer... ;-)