Suspicion

Driving down a surface street, I passed a cop who was pulling out of a shopping center. As I watched in my rear-view mirror, he pulled up behind me and followed me for a mile or two. I could tell he was checking up on me; he was entering data into his computer and talking on the radio, all while keeping a close eye on me.

I'm not sure what got his attention. Was it my damaged hood and front bumper, the cosmetic remains of a low-speed highway fender-bender over two years ago? Was it the company signs with a DOT number on my doors? It couldn't have been the out-of-state license plate, which he wouldn't have seen until he was directly behind me. In truth, the license plate is what worries me the most, because I misplaced the annual registration sticker, although I have the correct paperwork (somewhere, still paperclipped to the sticker). Having an out-of-state plate, though, cops tend to not notice that the sticker is the wrong color and a year or two out of date.

Then again, maybe it was the damaged hood. I think it's a law that you have to report all accidents, no matter how minor, although in practice this is not followed and is largely unenforced (and arguably unenforcable). Not that he would know from looking at my car whether I had reported the accident. (Like I said, unenforcable.)

I made sure to stick to the speed limit religiously while keeping a keen eye on the officer in my rear-view mirror. He talked on the radio, then got on his cellphone for a while, then went back to the radio. Eventually, he looked disappointed, and when I turned in to a parking lot he kept going past me. I guess he was hoping to bust me for something, and felt put out when everything checked out okay.