I come from a long line of speeders on my Irish side. All of us, especially the women, are filled with spunk, speed and sass. It seems to me I even heard tale; of my great grandma Maggie ripping through town in her late model T Ford. Never mind that my great grandpa was a cop!
I remember my grandmother laughing while telling me the story of how she got caught speeding after dropping my mother off at school back in 1940. Instead of pulling over, she hit the gas and speed all the way home - never stopping and leaving a huge trail of dust behind her. Naturally, the policeman followed her home and then knocked on her door with his pen and ticket pad in hand. Grandma opened the door, told him to get off of her property and then slammed the door in his face.
I never had the courage to do what my grandmother did, but I did I try many different techniques; like playing dumb when the cop asked me if I knew how fast I was going, or arguing about my speed. Sometimes I'd even get mad at the cop and throw my license and registration out the window at him. But all I did was make it more pleasurable for the cop to give me a ticket.
Then, a few years back, I was running late to pick up my kids up from school and I was driving much faster than the speed limit. When suddenly, I saw a cop car out of the corner of my eye, so I slammed on the breaks - but it was too late and in no time he was behind me with his lights on. I pulled over, rolled down my window and watched him as he slowly walk up to my car. I decided, in hopes of expediting the process, I should just admit what I did.
I quickly grabbed my registration, proof of insurance and driver's license and then screamed out the window, "I know I was speeding, I'm sorry." The police officer stopped in his tracks and started chuckling. When he got to my window I said it again, "I know, I was speeding." Still chuckling the policeman asked, "Do you know what the speed limit is?" I said, "Yes, it's 25mph." He asked, "Do you know how fast you were going?" I said, "Yea, at least 45mph, maybe more." By now, the officer was almost laughing out loud while shaking his head, as he took my vehicle information and then walked back to his car.
As I waited for him to make sure I wasn't a wanted criminal, I kept thinking, I hope it doesn't take him too long to give me the ticket.
Before long he approached my car and handed back my vehicle information. Then he bent down and said smiling, " No ticket today, Mrs. Krane, just slow it down."
I thought, WOW! Honesty really is the best policy! Maybe the cop was laughing because my honesty caught him off guard.
I got to thinking about why lying is so prevalent and accepted in our society. We lie about so many things; social status, age, how happy we are in our marriage, how much money we make, plastic surgery, taxes and much, much more. But why?
Maybe it's because we fear we'll loose something if we're honest; like money, family, friends, love, respect, power. I've known several women who lied for years about being happily married. Eventually, they ended up being honest with their spouses and either seperated or got a divorce. In their opinions, finally opening up and being honest was the greatest thing they could have done for themselves. Because living the lie everyday was harder on them than having to face family and friends with the truth. Now they're happier and healthier than they've been in years.
So maybe that fear is just an illusion, and the benefits of telling the truth always hold a silver lining.
But now, not even honesty can help me with my new problem-PHOTO RADAR!
