Driving Karma?

I may not have much luck, but I do have good parking karma. I do. I can provide witnesses. Well, I think it may have rubbed off on my driving.

So on Friday, 19 February 2010, my friend Damon and I went to pick up my other friend Nykele from the airport. After a fun-filled evening of Shari's, chatting, a German art song, and getting Nykele situated at her home, Damon and I called it a night and headed back to our neck of the woods. I was driving along Meridian continuing onto 104th Street in Puyallup, approaching the 94th Avenue intersection...

Dun dun dun. (That's ominous music.)

It was late at night and I had already come across about 7 cop cars. (That is not an exaggeration.) The light was green, but then it turned yellow at that point where you just can't win: you're too close to come to a nice gradual stop and too far to make it through without stepping on it and officially speeding. Damon* kept saying, "Go. Go! GO!" And for some reason I couldn't bring myself to go above 35. Me. Miss The-Speed-Limit-is-a-Suggestion-I-Believe-in-the-Autobahn-and-the-Nürburgring. Well, the light stayed yellow. So I stepped on it. Just in time for the light to turn red as I am about to cross the stop line. So what do I do? I slam on the brakes. Made a screech worthy of a movie. And came to a stop in the middle of the intersection. Don't worry. There were only two other cars around. One on the left and one on the right, each waiting at a full green light as I sat in the middle of the intersection not knowing what to do. Why did I not know what to do? Because it was then I realized both cars were police cars.

I sat there for a good 6 seconds freaking out trying to decide what was the lesser of the two law-breakages: go the rest of the way through the intersection, completely running a red light, or put the Camry in reverse and back up to the stop line. In my mind it was more simply, "Jail. Or jail." Well, I decided to back it up. Once I was out of reverse and at a full stop behind the line, the police car to the right went through the light but the car to the left just sat there. They sat there and just looked at me until their light turned yellow. Then they went through the light. (I'm pretty sure I said "I'm sorry" over and over again to the officers. And even though they couldn't hear me, I think it made a difference.) Damon and I kept watching their car as we went through the intersection, just waiting for them to turn around and follow us. But the second we couldn't see them anymore, you better believe I stepped on the gas and cruised to Fruitland Avenue as fast as I could. Fortunately, I saw no headlights in the rear-view mirror before I turned the corner and got home with no more incidents. Aidez moi.

So thankfully for me, my non-luck decided to step aside for the evening. Imagine if I had followed Damon's advice and sped through the intersection. No bueno. I really don't know what else to say. Except thank you officers for not pulling me over. I have no idea why they didn't, except maybe they were laughing so hard they couldn't bring themselves to pull me over. That would explain why they sat at the light so long... Well, I left some burnt rubber in the intersection for ye. Take a look the next time you're passing through. (Is it wrong that I'm a little proud? Tee hee hee.)

*After this and other events which happened to Damon later the same evening, I have decided that even though I will still be friends with him, I will not listen to his driving advice. :D