The First Time I Was Pulled Over

My dad was in charge of teaching all six of us kids to drive, and once we had our learner's permit he would take us to a church parking lot to practice before letting us go out on the road.  We had been to the parking lot several times, and I was getting frustrated that he wouldn't let me take it out on the road to do some real people driving.  He wouldn't even let me drive the car home. 

Meanwhile, my older brother, Sbrandon, was letting me drive his truck all over the place whenever I went somewhere with him.  One time he said I could drive his truck only if I promised to not use the brake.  You know, for funsies.  We were up in the foothills hiking, and true to my word we tore down the steep hill to our neighborhood.  I still wonder how we survived that.

Back to the story...

I could hardly believe my ears when my dad told me to go ahead and make a right out of the parking lot.  The neighborhood around this particular church was very suburban and quiet with little traffic, unless you count the kiddies on bikes.  Which is probably why he chose the area. 

I was ecstatic, I was so cool, I was cruising 'round the hood, lookin' fly, rollin' hot 'cause I am driving!  Then I saw lights flashing behind me.  These particular lights were red and blue. 

My heart stopped, my entire body went numb and all coherent thought was lost as a jumble of thoughts ran through my head.

My first time legally driving and I was getting pulled over!
My siblings are never going to let me live this down. 
What if this means I can't get my license? 
Will they take my learner's permit away?
I wasn't even speeding, what did I do wrong?
What do I do?  Is there a special procedure for pulling over?  What if I pull over wrong, then what?!
Why are there so many kids on bikes?  They are clustering around my car!

My dad very calmly talked me through my panic and instructed me to pull over, put it in park and roll my window down.  I managed to do so, but was a nervous wreck.

I could hear him approaching, and could see out of the corner of my eye that he was approaching, but was scared to make eye contact with the long arm of the law.  I finally turned to look at the officer as he came up to my window. . .

It was my brother. 

My oldest brother, Jared, is a Police Officer for San Juan County and was up for something or other, probably training.  He got to my parents' house while we were out driving and apparently couldn't resist finding us, and because my dad took us all to the same spot to practice Jared knew exactly where to look.

The posse of little kids riding their bikes got a good show though.  They saw a girl getting pulled over, then said girl call the officer a jerk and lean out the window to hit the officer.

If you're wondering, the kind officer let me keep my learner's permit.