Tryna catch me ridin' dirty

Last night on my way home from work I got pulled over by the knockos (shot out to the WIRE, which hasn't come on in 2 fuggin' weeks by the way...what's up HBO?) and they weren't REALLY tryna catch me riding dirty. I didn't have my seatbelt on and they had a "seatbelt trap" setup. No bull! A seatbelt trap. But this was my fault because I've drove through that area before and saw the "seatbelt trap" and I should have had my joint on anyway. Most of you who know me or have rode with me before have either asked me why I don't wear my seatbelt all the time or suggested that I do. This is further motivation to do just that..

One thing that I realized yesterday via this 20-minute experience was that the police treat you differently when you 1) are dressed well, 2) drive a so-called "nice" car, and 3) are articulate and non-belligerent.

I was pulled over by one of those semi-aggressive cops who act as if they think everybody is a flight risk. I knew I was in the wrong and there was no real risk of me fleeing the $25 ticket. So I pulled over and he gets to my door and tells me why he pulled me over and I respond calmly and tell him, "Okay, I understand." He then proceeded to change his entire demeanor and ask politely for my license and registration. Of course I had to alert him that my wallet was in my back pocket and my registration was in the glove compartment so I didn't get shot.

But this guy's posture went from "this ni99a might be a threat" to "he's one of them corporate negroes" real quick. It totally shocked me. So I sat there for what seemed to be an infinite amount of time but really amounted to about 15 minutes before he came back with my ticket and asked me to sign it and actually said "please" after he asked. Never before have I heard a cop ask someone to sign a ticket, "please".

I signed it, cursed him out in my head for actually writing the ticket (he could have let me go with a warning considering I wasn't raging about it), and drove off thinking:

"Man, this guy really changed his whole demeanor up when he saw I had on slacks, a nice shirt, and I spoke to him calmly. Wow!"

It made me realize that most of these cops who are overly aggressive are probably just afraid and they use aggression as their defense mechanism. But once they no longer view you as a threat, their posture and demeanor changes. This was a somewhat thought-provoking experience for me so I thought I'd share. In general though, they're more likely to catch me like this anyway (well, minus the white part, though I am very light-skindeded):