I KNEW IT!!

I told you so. I knew I was going to jinx myself with my complaining. I went in to work today to find out that now instead of doing the 5k once a week, they decided it was so popular they are now doing it twice a week!!! That's what I get I guess. Oh well.

I had a story I thought was kind of funny I wanted to share. So part of my duties here on base is traffic enforcement. Basically controlling the parking, speeding, stop signs, etc. Let me say up front, that I'm not big on giving tickets out here. Most of the people here on the base are only here for a few weeks before they head up to Iraq only to be never seen here again. The tickets don't follow them from base to base, so as long as it's nothing majorly wrong I usually just give them a verbal warning. Sometimes I don't even pull them over. I just flash my lights at them just to let them know I caught them and to take it easy, and sometimes I just follow them a little closely to convey the same message as flashing the lights.

Anyway, two nights ago, I was in my little hiding spot at a 4-way intersection and I saw this 20 passenger van speeding about 7-8 over and then they rolled the stop sign at the intersection I was watching. Now 7-8 isn't too much over, and he did at least slow down at the stop sign, plus there is little to no pedestrian traffic in this area. I decide that I will just let him know I'm in the area, so I flip my headlights on and I closely follow this guy. Were doing about 9mph at this point. So following closely really isn't a safety concern of mine. Most people understand what is going on and appreciate it, and some think they got away with it, but even they still leave with the impression that the police are out here, I don't want a ticket, I better be careful. Well, not this guy. He decides to hit the brakes, put his van in park, exit the van, and put his hands up in the air in disgust.

I pull up to him and ask "Do we have a problem?". This guy goes into a tirade about me following him too close. I try to explain to him that my intention was to simply let him know I saw him commit these infractions and to be careful. I further explain that I can use the method I did, or I could have pulled him over and given him a ticket. He tells me "Just give me the ticket next time". He then goes on to say he wasn't even speeding. I show him the radar. He's got nothing. He then decides to say he didn't run the stop sign. Rather than get into a pissing match with this guy, I decide, forget next time, he's getting a ticket this time. I ask for his license. Wouldn't you know it, no license. Here this guy could have gone on with nothing, and now he is getting 3 tickets, and most likely, his driving privileges revoked.

He really got me fired up inside. I try to be the nice guy with the verbal warnings and such, and he has to act this way. So after I give him the ticket, he drives off. About 10 minutes later, I see his van. You guessed it. Illegally parked. Guess who got another ticket...