Pressure (Stopped By A Cop)

I got pulled over by a police officer the other day. Before I tell you why and how it turned out ...

Have you ever been pulled over before? How did you feel when you first saw those lights flashing behind you? Were you nervous? Did you start sweating? And then were you wondering why you got pulled over in the first place? Or did you already know why and for what you were stopped for? And if you did, did you find yourself formulating a response? Did you find yourself thinking about what to say as the officer was walking up? And then how did it go? Did he believe you? Did you get a ticket? Did he haul you in? Or did he let you go? "Bye. Have a nice day."

Most people don't do well under pressure. (Except you?) It's "pressure" when you get pulled over. (Ya think?) Of course, there are other things in life that are worse and exert a whole lot more pressure than a traffic stop. (If you're in real estate, try doing a "short sale.") And if we're ever gonna be successful in business or otherwise, we need to do well under pressure. And did you ever have anything turn out right when you lost your cool? (I'll bet not often.)

As I was pulling over to the side of the road with the police car's lights flashing behind me (in my "beater" 1987 Mazda with 150k miles on it, the license plate in the window, the windshield cracked and the transmission almost gone) I determined in my mind that whatever was gonna happen "was gonna happen." And so I was completely relaxed. (This is not my normal response, btw.) The cop said, "Do you know the speed limit?" I said, "Yes. I have an old beater car and unless I get a good start up the grade I can't get very much speed." The cop said, "Have you been drinking?" I said, "No. I just got off work. I drive once to work and once back." He kind of chuckled and said, "Drive carefully." I said, "Don't you want to see anything?" He said, "No," and off he went.

And I guess you could say that "pressure" didn't get the best of me this time. I'd love to say that's always the case (that I'm always calm), but I'm still a work in progress. How 'bout you?