Expensive literature
Picasso could produce a lead pencil drawing that would sell for thousands of dollars. You or I could provide a similar sketch and it would be tossed in the trash..
This past week a young man provided us with a piece of paper, about 4 by 9 inches in size, that we paid $107.00 to receive. Ordinarily we don't buy such items, but this time we did.
The young man was handsome in his blue uniform. And he was merely doing his duty. So was the court when the cash was collected.
The culprit in this case was the guy with his foot on the accelerator. We don't even blame the editor who published it in the newspaper's "traffic court" column.
How did it happen? We were proceeding north from Florence on U.S.-77 when we approached Hague's Hill, milepost 100, which all of us realize is a popular spot for troopers to conceal their cars on the side road ready to pounce out. Normally we think about it and check our speedometer to see that all is legal.
This time, we didn't. Our conversation was about the beauty of the pasture on the east side of the highway, where cattle were feeding on the hillside north of the little draw. It was a pastoral scene.
Our cruise control was on a legal 65, but the car ahead was delaying us going up the hill. So, our right foot nudged the accelerator and our car jumped into action overtaking the slow car. We wanted to pass quickly, to keep a clear path ahead. That's when it happened, he was sitting there with his radar gun cocked and primed.
A handsome young man, he dispatched his duty promptly. So did the folks at the district court. And we see no need to tell our sad tale to the newspaper editor. They publish all the tickets, making no exceptions to a long standing rule.
— BILL MEYER
