Dear Officer....

Thank you for letting me off the hook today. You didn't have to believe me when I said it was the worst day of my life. But for whatever reason, you did.

Thank you for not running my license plate number. You probably would not have let me go if you had. You could see that my registration expired in February, but what you didn't know is I have a warrant out for my arrest. You see, back in October I got pulled over for a burnt out headlight. And come to find out, my license happened to be expired. Unfortunately for me, that officer wasn't as kind and understanding as you were. The problem was, I went out of town the next day, came back and packed my house and moved. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I forgot to pay my ticket(or renew my license). Yes, I realize that most people can't even sleep with something looming over their head like that. But I have an amazing ability to block all that out and function as if everything is normal.

What you also may not know is that today I hauled my two-year old to Hurricane to the DMV to finally renew my license. When we arrived, he jumped out of the car and fell into a rainy mud puddle. We got inside and waited in line to check in. Ten minutes later, I was informed that I couldn't renew without a copy of my birth certificate. We jumped back in the car and headed back to St. George to print a copy, got the copy and headed back to Hurricane. This time we avoided the puddle and only waited 5 minutes to check in. Things were looking up and we took our number and waited to be called up. One hour later, it was finally our turn. The kind man at the desk informed me that I would not be able to renew today because I had a child with me and children are not allowed in the testing area. And yes, I would need to retake the test. There went three hours of our day.

Our next stop was an oil change and new oil filter. 30 minutes, $50 and we were on our way to get our state inspection.

1 hour, 1 new brake light, $50 and 5th potty break for my two-year old in a skeezy automotive shop bathroom, and we were finally headed home to make the most of our horrible day.

Enter you. I was one mile from home when I noticed your lights in the rear-view mirror. I'm not sure how long you were there. You see, I was on the phone with Weber State University trying to contest the $400 charge for a class that apparently didn't get dropped in time to get a full refundd. I didn't exactly know how to explain to them why I had neglected to drop it and what I'd been preoccupied with for the last two months. I saw your lights, ended the call and scrambled to think of how to explain my predicament to you.

When you asked for my license, I wasn't lying when I said I couldn't find it. It was somewhere between the DMV and the state inspection shop. The tears I shed weren't fake when I told you it was the worst day of my life. So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart for not arresting me and letting me salvage what was left of my day. That is, the one hour I have before I go to my divorce orientation and education class. Ha ha.

Sincerely,
Chelsea

P.S. Now that I think of it, is solitary confinement really all that bad?