Last week, I was driving home from work down Broadway, as I always do, just south of the 105 Fwy. My sister called me on my cell phone, so I thought I'd be a good girl and pull over instead of driving while holding the phone to my ear (my earpiece broke). There was a park, so I thought this was an appropriate place to pull over next to the curb. I'd been there not more than two minutes when a patrol car came by, pulled into the parking lot, then drove onto the sidewalk and grass, and stopped beside where I was parked on the street. I ignored him at first, but then the officer rolled down his window and started talking to me. He asked me if I was broken down. I said no. Then he asked me what I was doing there. Mind you, it was 5:30 p.m. in early summer on the northern hemisphere of the globe (hence, perfectly light outside), no suspicious loitering around the park as far as I could tell. Why should I not be there? I told him I had pulled over to take a cell phone call. He advised me to leave because "You shouldn't be here."
Rob and others have told me about how when they owned VWs they were constantly being harrassed by the cops, something that I always found amusing. In general, it would seem absurd and paranoid to think that you're being harrassed just for driving an old VW. But if you're not doing anything illegal, and you're being addressed by the cops anyway, it does make you wonder, eh? So I wonder if this guy was genuinely concerned for my wellbeing. I must say that I have never seen any shady activity that would indicate to me that this is a dangerous place. Or was this my first experience in mild VW discrimination? How exciting. Is this in fact a drug park? Did I strike the cop as a shady type, sitting in my Bug, talking on my phone, arranging that drug deal? Is this why he drove on the grass and sidewalk to get to me? I'm amused, either way. I look forward to future discrimination. It's about time.
