Notes From The Road
[ 6 February 2008 ]
[Guest post by Audrey.]
For those who don’t know, I’m actually away from Melbourne and the iCiNG bowl for a little while. I’ve taken a couple of weeks off work so I can go help out some friends at the Big Day Out, and my friend and I decided to road trip it back to my hometown of Adelaide for the show there.
I thought I’d share a quick anecdote with you about something that happened on the drive over, as I think it’s the perfect example of why you should be trying to be a nicely dressed, polite, upstanding-pillar-of-the-community type of guy at all times.
Somewhere near the Victoria/South Australia border, a police car came up over the horizon towards us. Just when we got nearby, he flashed his lights and whooped his siren for us to pull over. Yup, I’d been picked up for speeding. Evidently Australian police cars now have some sort of sensor thing up on the roof and can detect the speed of oncoming traffic, or something like that. So be warned, drivers!
Now, you must keep in mind that being me, of course I was still wearing a nice outfit, despite the fact I’d been cramped in my car for ten hours in thirty-degree heat. Most guys would be sweating it out and drinking cans of Coca-Cola while driving in their stubby shorts, flip-flops and a wifebeater singlet. On the contrary, both myself and my friend were still comfortable, but not looking like disgusting slobs. I had some comfortable high-top Nike sneakers, my favourite jeans, and a simple white shirt with my messed-up-by-the-wind hair hidden under my grandpa’s old grey trilby.
The policeman asked me to step out of the car and we had a little chat. He asked me why I was speeding, I explained it was just an oversight and apologised… you know, the usual. In my head, I told myself that frankly, the guy had every right to pull me over. I was speeding. That’s against the law. It was time to accept responsibility for my actions, and not be all freaked out and nervous and make stupid excuses that I was sure the policeman had heard a million times before.
He was a nice guy though. And after talking a while, he told me that although I had crossed the ‘technical’ speed to warrant a fine (I was doing 118kph in a 110kph zone), he was only going to issue me a warning. No fine. No deduction points on my license. Essentially just a slap on the wrist, and he sent me on my way.
Chalk it up to guardian angels or whatever, but I’m convinced that his attitude to me and his decision to let me off was based purely on the fact that I was polite, not scruffy, sensible and — to put it bluntly — not an asshole about the whole thing. Too many times you hear stories of guys putting up a fight or getting really defensive when pulled over by the police, despite the fact they have actually broken the law. I guarantee if I’d been some sloppy, smart-ass, dirty guy I’d be holding a sizeable fine in my hand, instead of this mere precautionary notice.
I guess the lesson here is that first impressions do count. While most of my advice to you all will be to dress how you want and to embrace your own personal style, you need to always be prepared, and you definitely need to know where the line is in regard to pushing boundaries. There’s always a time when you have to ‘play the game’ and make sure that you are respectable, respectful and downright sensible.
And like I always say — being a proper gentleman isn’t a summer retreat or something you turn on and turn off. You need to embrace your gentlemanly ways and keep it up all the time.
Manners and politeness should come naturally, and this is a great example of why it needs to happen.
Drive safe, kids.
Audrey xoxo
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So true! A gentleman is always a gentleman… I feel the same about being ladylike. There’s a lot to be said for not making a complete idiot of yourself, but sadly with drinking culture and everything loads of guys and girls can just seem to forget all remnants of self-respect come a Friday night.
Sigh. I sound like such an old lady now.
Anyway, great article Audrey! I love reading your stuff :)
A beautiful post for both genders! I’d love to be a gentleman myself. Thanks Audrey! =)
Yeah… but whether you get caught when speeding, or get done for speeding, or not, it’s still just as dangerous and could kill people. I know you’re a good person and I’m too young to drive and maybe this is awfully patronising, but where I live in Ireland, we have a horrible, horrible rate of road death, and lots of people seem to think that as long as they slow down for the cameras and the cops, their superior driving skills mean that for them, driving faster than the limit is ok, and the rules are for others. Not so. Speed kills people dead funerals. Don’t ever. Pleeease?
Oh, man — I can’t COUNT how many times a polite attitude has saved me while driving! I do have a tendency to speed, yikes, and have on multiple occasions dealt with police officers who were nice enough to let me off with a warning because I was mature about the whole thing.
This just in, girls: crying when faced with the possibility of a ticket or other bad consequence will do NOTHING.
Nice work, Audrey. Being classy and polite seem to be rather undervalued in today’s society (heh, I sound like an eighty-year-old), but they still count where it matters. Treating all people (yup, even police) with kindness and respect is an excellent habit to cultivate.
And it’s true, too. I myself have been in a couple of tricky driving situations with police and I’ve never had a personal problem with the officers involved because I was polite but not sycophantic, and I understood they were just doing their job. Not all of them are good people but those who are have it tough out there. The police I’ve met seem to really appreciate it when you don’t give them attitude.
i do agree with this! once i was caught on a tram without a ticket and ended up getting off without a fine, simply because i didn’t argue about it and admitted that i’d done the wrong thing. it may have also had to do with that fact that there was a man, two seats away, who also didn’t have a ticket and was starting to get aggressive towards the inspectors and arguing his fine every step of the way.
Roo – PLEASE don’t think I in any way condone speeding or reckless driving! A fine is the last reason you should be driving safe and under the speed limit. I assure you, I’m usually a careful driver, I promise. X
Couldn’t agree more.
Great post Audrey!
nice blog.
he probably thought you were hot!
Wifebeater – hee! On ‘Queer Eye’ they call it a ‘domestic-partner-beater’. ;-)
Nadine – that’s too funny!
Bette! – I seriously doubt it! Ewww!
Whoa, I read through this whole article thinking Gala wrote it, and I was thinking, “Why does she keep writing ‘if she was a guy’?”. When I scrolled to the bottom & saw “Audrey xoxo” I had a sudden shock of realization and hit myself on the head!
My uncle is a police officer, and he is DEFINITELY more tolerant with people who are polite & don’t look slobby & don’t give them shit. The worst thing you can do is have an attitude with them..I know with my uncle that just provokes him! Haha.
While I would never endorse speeding it’s nice to see that there are some people that have respect for police people and will admit when they are wrong.
If you can do it while looking fabulous then all the better :]
Great post!
Nicely said Audrey. There is something police officers use that may change their minds on how you are dealt with – it is called The Attitude Test, and you obviously passed with flying colours :D
Just after I got my license I was told if you get pulled over for anything, always get out of your car, have your license (and rego if you need it) ready and be polite. It does work too! When my ex and I drove to albany he got caught doing 99km in a 100km zone (in his defense, he thought it was a 100km zone – there were no signs). He didn’t have his P plates up because we were in my car and forgot to bring them. He got out, handed the cop his license and apologised to him, explaining that the road hadn’t be signed and the road we turned off had been 100km zone. the policeman was very nice and let us off with a warning. I’m pretty sure if Adam had been driving in a wifebeater (like he’d wanted to) and stayed in the car we would have copped the total $300 fine.
why is it that you & my boyfriend seem to be the only men in the whole world who have this attitude? we definitely need more of it.
You’re like everygirls knight in a good button down shirt and nice jeans.
Very good article.