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Cop Magnet

Ya gotta love cops in the DC Metro. Now, I'm not talking about DC cops - MPD - not yet, anyway. In two days, I've had the pleasure of attracting attention from a Prince George's County officer while in the drive-through at the Laurel Chick-fil-A...and a Mountgomery County cruiser while close to DC.

Now, what might I be doing to gain such attention from the fuzz? Expired license plate. Yeah, something called "life" got in the way of me remembering to renew that little detail. It expired on 1/31. So, on 2/5 the PG County officer honked several times at me while I was trying to get a sausage burrito and a coffee.
"Sir, how ya doin' this morning?" the black officer polietly inquired.

"Fine, thank you, officer," I managed, perplexed at why he was talking to me.

"Just wanted you to know your tag is expired and you need to get that taken care of."

"Oh, really? Wow, thank you, sir. I will." He waved a polite "take care" gesture and went on his way, having taken advantage of the free Chick-fil-A breakfast they've always offered law enforcement.

So, that day, I renewed the tag online and was pleased to see a temporary "badge" was provided to print out and I placed that in my window. Good thing, too.

The next morning, again going to work but no breakfast stop and closer to DC, I wondering why a cruiser was 3 car lengths back from my bumper at a red light. Yeah, I got that "target locked" feeling. Green light. Blue lights and siren. Slide over to the shoulder.

"Good morning, sir. I pulled you over because your tags are expired."

I briefly explained the badge in the window and my renewing of tags online. The asian officer didn't seem entirely convinced and wanted my license and registration. Yea, for me! I haven't had that pleasure since being in the DC Metro. He looked them over, looked over the badge.

"OK, well, I couldn't see that in your window."

I hope those $128 of stickers arrive soon since I need to attract a Howard County and DC cruiser next. MPD might not care since it's a Maryland tag.

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