Andres Rosales

I'm back in Austin. On the way, on 71, a cop stopped a speeding motorist and I immediately glanced at my speedometer. As always, my speed was well under the speeding limit. With Murphy in the car, I am extra careful. I wondered though what Murphy would do if a cop thrust his head in our car? Would Murphy bark as he does when someone approaches our driveway? Would the cop be startled, pull out a gun? My thoughts spun into a dark comedy as I drove on.

In Bastrop, I pulled into a well-lit gas station and then forgot to turn on my headlights when we got back on the road. I saw the flashing lights of a cop car in my rearview mirror and I exited the highway, parked on the shoulder of the road and waited for the cop's face to materialize. Murphy got up. Stopping again? He thrust his big head in front just as the cop walked over to the passenger side. I lowered the window about two inches.

'I have a dog, I said, even though the cop would have seen Murphy's silhouette through the rear window.

He turned his flashlight on Murphy.

'He's extremely gentle,' I said.

'Can I have your driver's license?' he asked.

First I gave him my credit card, and then my Yoga class card. These days MAC does not charge for Yoga, but I had bought it a year ago only to drop out when I found that I was the only one in the entire class of non-Indians who could not sit cross-legged. Anyway, I kept pulling out various cards, like a magician, from a slim slot in my purse -- specially designed for the driver's license. The cop waited patiently, shining his flashlight on my handbag while I rummaged through the many compartments.

'Here it is,' I said, ‘I knew I had it somewhere.'

He disappeared with it and returned some minutes later. 'I'm giving you a warning this time,' he said.

‘Thanks,’ I said. He really was the nicest cop I have ever met and so I asked him for his name, because that’s not always legible on the ticket/notice. ‘I want to blog about this.’

‘Sure,’ he said, giving me his card.

If all cops were like patrol officer Andres Rosales, being apprehended for a traffic violation may not be such an unnerving experience.