cars and cops

I have never been a huge fan of cops, mainly because in the past they
had a penchant for giving me speeding tickets in an abundance. Yes,
I may have a bit of a lead foot, but let's get logical here. All the car
manufacturers, particularly the American ones, make these nice
sleek automobiles with huge engines. I lived in Europe for almost
7 years, and visited numerous other times. Cars, and their engines,
are much smaller over there due to emission controls, higher car
taxes, and much higher gasoline prices. In some countries,
particularly southern Europe, very narrow roads, inadequate
parking, and substandard highway systems are not meant for
large and/or powerful cars. Yet, despite all these negatives, the
speed limits on the highways are much higher than here - to
translate from the metric system, highway speed limits on average
are around 80-85 in Europe. And I never even got to drive on the
German autobahns, where there is NO speed limit (SWEET!!);
someone even told me that in Germany you can get a ticket for
moving TOO SLOW! And then we come to the U.S., where the
highways are nicer and straighter, the cars bigger and more
powerful (not to mention less tax and lower gas prices), and we
have to piddle along at 55 or, if we are lucky on certain interstates,
maybe 65. Just doesn't make any sense to me, it feels like you're
barely moving. So yes, while some people get tattoos, piercings,
or form Goth bands as a form of expression and rebellion, I just
speed in my mode of transportation. Y'all should remember
Sammy Hagar's song "I Can't Drive 55!" - yes, that was written
with me in mind I'm sure! But I actually brought up the subject
of cops here today due to an incident last night outside the
restaurant. It was late, after midnight, when we saw flashing
blue lights in the parking lot - someone had gotten pulled over
for what we assumed was speeding. Well, it became clear that it
was more than that, as soon another cop car appeared, as well as
a police van, all with the lights flashing. Herman, our ever so
inquisitive cook, decided to investigate what was going on outside,
with the pretense that he was 'taking out the trash'; he proceeded
to find out that the guy was drunk, possibly also in possession of
something illegal, hence the police backup. Eventually the man
who was pulled over was cuffed, put in the police cruiser, and
his car was parked. (hey, if we can't have drama in the restaurant,
we can get it in the parking lot!) It did slightly affect our business
though; this guy came in, a regular late night fellow who comes
in with his pals, and said the rest were on the way. 20 minutes
pass, then about 30, and he was just sitting there smoking and
drinking coffee. I asked him if his friends were still coming,
and he said no. Apparently they called him on his cell; they
were about to pull into the parking lot, saw all the cop cars, and,
as he put it, "got spooked" and decided to just keep going rather
than come in. hhhmmmm, let's analyze this here - my guess was
too much alcohol had been consumed, or maybe some type of
illegality was involved? And let's not assume drugs, it could be
expired license, registration, or tags! ... yeah, right!! ;)