The Highway Patrol Teaches Me to Break the Law

So, today I'm going to rant a little because, let's be honest, I'm powerless and frustrated and you are a semi-captive audience.




What? Yes. You are. Don't argu... Am I going to have to put you all under hypnosis again?!

Ahem...now that you've settled down. I'll tell you my very irritating & true police story that happened this week--a.k.a. "How to alienate people in under 2 minutes flat."

**Disclaimer** I have the utmost respect for the police, and this guy would've been a pain in the a** in any uniform.

On Tuesday, I was driving home from a city almost two hours away. I was in the farthest left lane on the freeway and the traffic was pretty bad when I noticed a sign that said my lane was turning into a carpool lane. I wasn't familiar with this city and didn't realize they had a carpool lane there, so I promptly tried to move over, and out of the lane.

The traffic was pretty tight and I slowed down a bit, but there was nowhere to get over before the lane ended. Ahead of me a bit was the only break in traffic big enough for me to move over into, so I sped up a bit, and moved over as soon as I could. I made it less than 10 feet after the lane had just turned into carpool with a solid white line.

Immediately, a highway patrolman showed up behind me with his lights flashing. When I pulled over, rolled down my window and he walked up, our conversation went like this:

Him - "Do you realize I can put you in jail for that stunt you just pulled?"

Me - stunned silence, followed by, "Stunt?"

Him - "Yes. You were in the carpool lane without having two or more people in the car, you crossed the solid white line, and you were speeding. That's a trifecta which equals reckless driving and I can legally take away your license and put you in jail."

Me - *blinks* "But, I was trying not to break the law. I'm not from this area. I didn't realize it was a carpool lane there and as soon as I saw the sign, I tried to get out, but the traffic was too heavy, so I sped up a bit to get into the only open slot and out of the lane.

Him - "You're going to kill someone. Or you're going to kill yourself. Which do you think would be worse?"

Me - *is speechless*

Him - *sighs* " Do you even have a license?"

Me - "Of course I have a license!"

Him - "Well, I'm giving you a ticket for speeding and a warning for being in the carpool lane because I'd rather give you a ticket than have to go to your house and tell your husband and kids that you're dead."

Me - *hands over license and resists the urge to add 'rolling window up on head of an officer' to my list of offenses*

Keep in mind: I was in no way unsafe. I have a completely clean driving record. I was actually trying to obey the law, and the only time I sped up was to get out of the lane (and even then I was only going 6 mph over the limit).

Here is what I learned from this experience:
1 - He couldn't see in the back of my van. I'd have been better off to stay in the lane until I could get out without speeding up because he had no idea if I was alone or not.

2 - I've gained a new appreciation for the old Judas Priest song, "Breaking the Law."

3 - I hate people who let the power of their positions/situations go to their heads.

/End Rant -- Anyone else need to get something sucky off their chests? Let's get it out of our systems so we can have a fantastic weekend!

Oh dear... #agentfail failed

I have now seen both sides of the spectrum and am forced to regretfully conclude that #queryfail participants showed more respect, restraint and professionalism than the majority of #agentfail participants.

As a writer I am frankly embarrassed. We were given a forum in which agents requested us to discuss things that we think could be improved and there is only one conclusion for what followed.

Writers behaved poorly.

There was unmitigated agent bashing and it only served to make writers look like petty, arrogant fools. Not only that, but the majority of those that behaved foolishly felt free to go all out and not pull any punches because they could do so in perfect anonymity. I think this was the beginning of the problem. #queryfail happened on twitter so we knew exactly which agent made what comments. They were held responsible for the things they were saying.

Many of the writers participating in #agentfail apparently felt no need to respond in kind. By far the majority were anonymous posters.

I'm not going to go into details of the many complaints on #agentfail that I believe to be unjust, disrespectful and flat out ridiculous. Instead, I'm going to highlight the relatively few valid points that were made.

1 - Writers don't like a "no response means no" policy to queries and submissions. They would prefer at the very least an auto-response stating that they received the material and a notification that they would be in contact IF they were interested.

2 - If an agent requests material then the agent should try to be ready to respond in the time frame they have requested, if not, the agent should drop us a note telling us they need an extension and how much longer they will need.

3 - Agents should keep their submission information up to date and available for prospective clients.

4 - Agents should be professional in their communications with writers--just as they would like writers to be professional with them.

this last note was my only contribution to #agentfail (I did not post it anonymously by the way)

5 - Agents should be more environmentally/technologically friendly and be accessible for e-mail queries and internet submissions.


If any of my writer friends would like to have a concise list of what should be expected from an agent. Please check out agent Rachelle Gardner's blog for an awesome post on that exact subject.