The Answer...

I got pulled over by the police! It was the first time I was driving when I was pulled over and it was a new experience for me. I feel that it is sort of a right of passage, one that every American has to experience at one time or another.

This is what happened. I had the longest day possible last Wednesday night. Esther and I were staying over at my brother's place because of our bathroom remodel (more about that from Jonas), and I had been driving ALL day back and forth. I drove almost 180 miles (abt 290 km) that day and I was doing the last stretch home back to my brother's place about 10 pm. I was in a part of town that I usually don't drive and the exit came up really fast and I had to change about 3 lanes very quickly to make the exit. If I didn't make that exit, I might have added another 10 minutes of driving - and that was not happening that night.

Anyway, the cop was right behind me when I made my quick exit and pulled me over. That was the "fright" part. I think he wanted to see if I was drunk (but I wasn't!). He was really nice and didn't give me a ticket or even a warning. He just asked if I was in an unfamiliar part of town and then told me to be careful and let me go. Whew - that was the "smile" part - of relief. Now for the last week or so I have been extra, extra careful, even stopping way longer at stop signs than I need to.

The prize goes to Raja. What would you like, brother? (P.S. I didn't tell anyone, not even Jonas about the incident.) Also, there were quite a few creative answers that I really enjoyed - green bean casserole, the American anthem, tractor-pull, toilet troubles! It's fun to read what people percieve as being American. Thanks for participating.