You might chalk it up to sour grapes.

Maybe, but I don't think so.

Last Friday I got a ticket for driving through the Target parking lot without fastening my seat belt and four days later I'm still annoyed.  Tell me what you think.

It was 8:00 a.m. and I stopped by Target to buy Matthew shoes he could wear for water day on his last day of kindergarten.  I got back in my car and started heading through the parking lot towards Matthew's school.  WHILE driving through the parking lot I latched my seat belt - first because I always wear my seat belt and second because my car makes an insidious beeping noise when the driver's seat belt is not fastened.  I exited the parking lot and made a right hand turn onto Glade Road.  

At first I ignored the red and blue police lights, because it never occurred to me that I could have done something wrong.  When I realized I was still being followed and that it was me he wanted, I pulled into the closest parking lot.  When I asked the police officer what I did, he replied, "Ma'm, you were driving without a seat belt."  I naturally pointed out that I was, in fact, wearing a seat belt and he responded by saying, "Ma'm, you weren't wearing a seat belt back there."  So I said, "You mean when I was in the Target parking lot?"  Aware he was in charge and clearly had the upper hand, he calmly stated, "Ma'm, I don't want to argue with you" and continued writing his ticket.  It was a done deal.

Here's what I've been thinking about for the past four days:

Nothing about what that officer did shines.  Nothing.  That police man was not making the world a safer place by stalking me in the Target parking lot.  He was desperate to fill a monthly quota and scouring the Target parking lot for people whose wheels were rolling while fastening their seat belts seemed like a sure-fire approach.

If I am talking on a cell phone while driving through a school zone?  Ticket away.  Ignoring a stop sign or running a red light?  No problem.  Speeding or parking in an illegal spot?  Bring it on.  But letting the wheels turn while fastening my seat belt in a parking lot?  Cheap shot.

If the Euless Police Department is suffering from budget cuts then they should set an example by responding like an agency that shines - not like the wounded, beaten down government agency that they showed themselves to be last Friday.

How about earning money by adding value?

• Host a Detective summer camp for kids.  I dropped Matthew off at camp this morning with 101 other children.  Multiplied by $210.00 per week, that could be a chunk of change.
• Kids are drawn to police officers in the same way they are to fire fighters and Santa Claus.  How about if the police department took a page from Santa's book and accepted donations for a picture with your child? 
• Develop an arm to the police department that does consulting.  Residents, business owners, and educators - all of whom are concerned about safety and security issues - might value the experience of police officers enough to pay for their expertise. 

We could sit here and do this all day, couldn't we?  Come up with innovative, positive - not punitive - ways for police departments to generate supplemental income.  Ways that don't further alienate police officers from the very constituents they are trying to serve.  Ways that might actually - with just a little bit of effort and creativity - make them shine.

Let's do it.  Visit us in the Community Forum sectioned labeled, Today's Post and share your suggestion for how police departments might better serve - not stalk, in parking lots - otherwise law abiding citizens.  Or, tell me if you bleed blue and agree I deserved the ticket.  I can take it.

Shining off until tomorrow...