Yesterday I passed out. Not for no reason, of course. I went down to the UALR student center and donated blood to the Red Cross. However, all I had eaten was my morning yogurt and chicken noodle soup for lunch. So when they drew all that blood, my blood sugar dropped quickly causing me to drop.
Needles and I have never had a good relationship and this is not the first (or probably the last) time I’ve fainted because of them. But I wanted to do something good. And I did. And I felt good about it. I felt like a good person for doing it.
I drive relatively slowly. I do this because I think speeding tickets are a HUGE waste of my hard earned money. When I’m on the highway driving the speed limit I think, “I’m a good, law-abiding citizen.” This makes me feel good. I drive slow and do good things and try to be a good person. But it only takes one sucky person to bring it down.
I was ticketed this morning for failing to use my turn signal by a UALR campus cop (yes, it’s a real traffic violation. They have that jurisdiction). She claimed I didn’t signal from University Ave. to 28th St. or at 28th onto Campus Drive. Her statement was, “Do you know how many pedestrians are injured every year at cross walks?”
Obviously, there is a huge contradiction in this statement. Cross walks are for drivers to YIELD to pedestrians, which I did. I didn’t get a ticket for failure to yield. Blinkers don’t save people, yielding does. University Ave. to 28th has a turning lane. There’s no need for a turn signal if I’m in the turning lane.
My biggest problem with all of this is that it was such an unnecessary ticket. No blinker?!? As she was writing my ticket I looked around and saw 3 cars parked illegally as well as a driver rush passed us going no less than 20 miles over the speed limit. I was then hit with 2 other violations for having an expired insurance card and expired registration form, even though my tags were not expired.
When she handed me the ticket, these are some of the things I commenced to SHOUT at her:
- “There’s a turning lane, why would I need a blinker in a turning lane?!?
- “You were behind me, you saw me yield, there wasn’t even anyone in the crosswalk!”
- “Don’t you guys have anything better to do than write tickets for a ridiculous thing like a blinker?” People are getting shot on this campus and you’re looking for criminals who don’t use blinkers!”
- “You see my tags! They are not expired. Just look!”
- “You need a conscience! You know people can afford these things. It’s ridiculous”
- “I hope I helped you meet your violation quota for the day. How do you sleep at night?!?
- “Times are too tough and money is tight for everyone right now for you to be giving these ridiculous tickets!”
Yep, I was pissed to say the least. I try to be a good person and do good things and think there is good in everyone. But it’s stupid stuff like this and people like that cop who make me lose faith in all that is supposed to be good. People like this make me loose faith in humanity.
I’ve heard other people complain about UALR’s campus police and tickets. Sounds like this person has just gone mad with the little power they have. I’m not sure about the law on turning lanes and blinkers. That sucks, though.
if it makes you feel any better, you aren’t the only one to lose faith in our society. I gave up long ago, and yet every single day, something happens that strengthens my belief that “good people” are few and far between. At least you gave her a piece of your mind, I would have just sat there and stewed, not said anything and then been in a pissy mood for a week.