This last weekend, I decided to make a quick trip home to Vegas from Utah. I was only home for about 10 hours before it was time for me to turn around and return to work. The drive was rather boring and I decided to turn on a podcast. Instantly, I became captivated by the topic of conversation. As the end of the podcast was drawing near, I, still enthralled and in la-la-land, fly under a bridge and notice a cop car sitting in the dirt between the two highways. After glancing at my speedometer, I quickly realized I was in trouble.

I watched as the blue and red lights flipped on and began to follow me. I pull over onto the side of the road and roll down my window, letting rain drops trickle in. With my hands on the steering wheel, an officer, wearing a tag I couldn’t read, poked his head in and asked for my license, registration, and insurance. After gathering my things and handing them over, he asked me to wait in my car as he searched for my information.

I sat in the driver’s seat of my little red car, laughing. I couldn’t believe I had been pulled over.

Five minutes later, Officer No Name comes back with my things -- plus a ticket. As he passed me the ticket, I took it and firmly said, “Thank you.” He pauses and looks at me, confused. He mumbles, “Uhhh, no one has ever said thank you before after I give them a citation. Mostly, they just argue.” I laugh, semi-embarrassed, and explain to him that I was clearly speeding and claiming that I wasn’t, was a pointless task. He responded, dumbfounded, “Okay. Well. That’s very unusual but I appreciate the fact that you aren’t arguing.” He points for a place for me to sign the ticket and I wish him a good day. That was the end of it. I sped, I got a ticket, and I drove off.

The officer’s reaction to my reaction caused a lot of reflection to happen within me. I wondered how many times a day he, only doing his job, pulled people over just to have them sit and argue with him. It must get old. It must be tiring. I thought about the fact that his job as a police officer is to help keep the roads safe. If someone is speeding down the road, an accident is much more likely to happen than if they’re going the speed limit. He didn’t wake up wanting to ruin people’s day, he woke up wanting to keep people safe. I thought about how I was in the wrong in that situation and owning up to it could only make both of our lives easier.

Yes, it was definitely frustrating getting a ticket, but it was my fault. For as often as I speed, it was bound to happen at some point. I could have chosen to react in an angry manner but rather, I chose to accept the consequences of my actions. Saying “thank you” was out of the ordinary, but sometimes, being different is worth-while.