I got stopped by a cop

Anyone who knows what I do for a living will find irony, or perhaps sweet, sweet justice in this story.

I was at a restaurant, celebrating Carolyn's 23rd birthday with the rest of my co-workers, distracted because I hadn't gotten to talk to Chris and uncomfortable because everyone was being loud and unnecessarily perky and there were camera flashes going off and gigantic hubbub over getting an extra table to fit all of us and everybody clamoring to be the first to talk and tell a witty story.

I wanted to go home.

Plus I was stressed because I wasn't sure I had enough cash to contribute my share of the bill.

Plus, plus, where was Chris? And was it normal for me to be so anxious after not talking to him for one night when how long have I really known this guy anyway? There must be something wrong with me, some kind of attachment/abandonment issue.

This is all I was thinking about as the others mugged for poloroids, flashing shakas and talking about how when they first moved here they couldn't pronounce any of the street names (this is Kona after all. No one from here lives here).

At the first opportunity, I threw a $20 into the pile, got a $1o back in change and lit out of there.

I made it all the way up the second street (nearly side sweeping another car that didn't even see me, dumbasses) before I saw the flashing blue lights behind me.

I pulled over thinking it would just pass me. It didn't. It pulled up behind me. The officer got out. I rolled down my window. The officer, a woman shined her flashlight in my car and asked me if I was OK. I said yes. She asked where I'd been. I told her. She asked if I'd been drinking. I told her (honestly) I hadn't.

Then she said, "Because you were driving without your headlights on. That's one of the signs you know, for drunk driving."

Then she let me go, because she said she couldn't smell alcohol on my breath and I seemed trustworthy.

So THAT'S how distracted I was. I didn't even turn my headlights on.

And no, I'm not blaming Chris for the nuerosis that sometimes grips my mind like a fist. Chris actually called me ahead of time to say he wouldn't be available to talk. I sure wish I could apologize to the driver I thought was a dumbass for not seeing me driving along without my headlights on.