Kind of a long story, but bare with me.
Where I work, we’ve been working a lot of overtime and weekends. I really needed a break from work and reality. When we got done with work at 11:00pm, I asked a buddy of mine if he wanted to get a beer and something to eat at Apple bee’s. He agreed, so we said we would meet each other at the restaurant.
When I started my truck to leave work, one of my headlights went out. No big deal, I’ll just have to get e new bulb in the morning. I was the first one to arrive at the restaurant, so I wait for my buddy. When he gets there, I tell him about the headlight and he says to me “I guess there will be now drinking for you tonight.” I laughed and told him I only wanted to have one or two beers. Besides, “what are the odds that I would get pulled over?”
Well, needless to say, the odds are PRETTY DARN GOOD.
On my way home, I passed a cop who was driving the opposite direction. He immediately made a U-turn and pulled right behind. I wasn’t too concerned, but I did have three tall ones during the past two hours. Anyway, just as I flipped on the blinker to turn towards my house, the cherries go on. I pulled over and I am literally parked 75 yards from my driveway. Well, mister police officer comes up to the door and, low and behold, my window in frozen shut, so I have to open the door. He’s asked how I’m doing. I tell him “I’m fine, but let me guess….I have a headlight out.” He laughs and says yes. He then asks where I was coming from. I told him the story of leaving work and noticing the headlight is out. I also told him I went with a buddy to have a beer and appetizer after work. He does the usual routine of license and insurance and goes to his car to check things out. He comes back to my truck and says I’m good to go, but could I do something for him. Sure I said. He tells me to hold my head still, only moving my eyes and follow his finger. As he starts to move his finger, he moves it so far to my left, that the door pillar in my truck is blocking my view. I kind of yell, “Hey, I can’t see your finger because the pillar is blocking my view.” He apologizes and continues his little test. He says I’m fine and that this is easier than having to give me a breathalyzer. So everything is good to go, he lets me go and I get to drive 75 more yards to my home.
Prior to him letting me go, I the officer if I could tell him a funny story. He agreed. I said believe it or not, about 3 years earlier, I had a taillight bulb burn out on my truck. I went to the local store to get a bulb. On my way home, a police officer pulled me over in this exact same spot. When that officer asked if I knew why I got pulled over, I said “A TAILLIGHT.” I then reached in the pocket of my sweatshirt and pulled out a pack of new bulbs. He laughed and told me to get outta here.
When I told my wife of the encounter with mister police man, she didn’t think it was as funny as I did.
But I did learn a lesson from all of this. I will always carry a spare headlight and taillight bulb in my truck and replace them as soon as I notice the problem.