Icebreaker Tuesday: Breaking the Law

Okay, ya'll, if you're new here, here's the deal with Icebreaker Tuesday. I tell you my story, you tell me yours in the comments. Got it? I love cheesy icebreaker questions and how they sometimes bring up the most interesting stories--I love to read all of your stories so make sure to comment!

Today's Question (suggested by Angel): Have you ever gotten a ticket? If so, what was the situation?

Here's what happened when I got my first ticket. I headed out of my house, off to school for the last day of the semester. A mile out from my house, I arrived at an intersection where I needed to make a left turn. I saw a police car parked near the road, and thought, "Oh, they're waiting there to catch speeding cars," and confidently made the left turn that I've made nearly every day that I've lived in this neighborhood.

Within seconds, the policeman had pulled into the road and his lights were on. He was pulling me over. I had no idea why, at this point, but I pulled over, and hands already shaking, searched for my car's insurance and registration papers. I'd never been pulled over before, but I knew the drill. The policeman marched up to my window, and said, "Did you know you just made an illegal left turn?"

Flabbergasted, I said, "No, I didn't. Why is that turn illegal?"

"There's a sign there, it says No Turns, I'm going to write you a ticket," he said, and left.

I was trying, really trying, to be brave, but I was already crying by the time the policeman came back to the car with my ticket. I took it, without saying thank you, and went on my way. I cried nearly the whole way to school. I know, not very mature of me and perhaps a little too dramatic...but if you knew me, you wouldn't be surprised at my response. By the way, did I mention that I was on my way to a final exam? Exam days are hardly good days, and the ticket didn't make it any better. I calmed myself before the test, and made it through.

At the end of the final exam, my professor handed my back my final paper, saying, "Rachel, I had to take off a few points for forgetting your married name."

I looked at my paper, and sure enough, I'd typed my maiden name on the top page of every sheet in the paper. For a few minutes I was sad, thinking, "What else could go wrong today?" and then I saw my professor's grin, and realized he was joking. I wasn't in quite the right mental state to handle jokes at the time.

 The Fatal Corner

Angel went back to the corner that day and took pictures. Notice that the new sign was clearly so new that they hadn't even taken the old sign away yet. He also did a little research and found out that according to street records, that sign had indeed been placed only a couple days before. No wonder that I had no idea that I wasn't supposed to make that turn! I mean, yes, there is a sign, but how closely do you look at the stop signs you stop at five times a week? We thought we had a bit of a case for extenuating circumstances, so we tried to fight the ticket on the grounds of: when you reside in a neighborhood, you don't expect the rules of the streets to suddenly be switched up on you with no prior warning. But no, we had to pay the ticket and I had to get the points on my license. I would have preferred mercy, but wouldn't we all? I did make an illegal turn, after all, and I got my due punishment for it.

I'm not sure if our attempt to fight the ticket caused this or not, but shortly after my ticket, a huge sign with blinking lights was placed about thirty feet ahead of the intersection, warning, "No Left Turn". The lighted sign stayed there for months. But by that time, I really didn't need it. I hope it was placed in time to save other locals from a surprise ticket, though.

So, what's your ticket story?