My first car...'63 Chevy Impala SS, lake-pipes, no mufflers, 327, 3-spd Hurst Shifter, coming off the Winneconne Bridge over the Wolf River...2 little brothers and 1 little sister...all standing in the back seat...
(BTW: Paint color on this beeotch...Candy Apple Green...well before DayGlow).
Bubble-gumballs come on...I pull over within 50' of the first site of his lights...Officer Hose (yep, that was his name) comes up to my window...but I notice he has his hand on his revolver...
HOSE: "Mark? Who's all in the car with you?"
ME: "My brothers and sister."
HOSE: "Anyone else in the car? (He shines the light inside...scanning the floorboards and back seat floor.) Anything in the trunk I should be looking at?"
ME: "HUH?"
(There's a slight pause and I hear Hose talking to someone off to my right, but blocked from sight due to the roof pillar...turns out it's the Omro cop, pistol pulled and cocked and aimed at the car.)
Hose comes back to my window with the "Pink Slip" for the lakes...5 days to fix or park it.
I get home and the while I'm getting the bros&sis out of the back seat, the neighbor lady (Our version of Mrs. Kravits) comes screamin' from her place about how we were all about to be massacred (she lived with the Police Scanner nailed to the side of her head) and ended up scaring the little ones to tears and freaking out my mother who had no idea (neither did I) that when I got pulled over...it wasn't so much the lakers that caused the issue than it was the fact that the whole damn county of LEOs were looking for "A GREEN CHEVY 2-DOOR, DRIVER CONSIDERED ARMED & DANGEROUS" that was wanted for armed-robbery in a nearby community of Berlin, WI..
Little did I realize that there were 4 other cop cars (unmarked, but well armed) in front of me during the pull-over and in each car, at least, they had one officer in it that had some dear-rifle cross-hairs aimed at my pumkin.
Thank dog I never gave Hose a reason to blink or sneeze.
I'm feeling much better and older now...thank you.
LESSON: No matter how much YOU think you're right, it's the guy with the sugar-buzz, ballistic hardware and sun glasses that has your life and balls in HIS hands. Pay attention and don't be a smart ass. He may sneeze, you'll get the cold and never be wiser for it.
