Jinxed

Tuesday is my day to do things with my daughters. I drive to Carol’s house and she and I drive to Connie’s house in her car where we play a game of Rummy. Afterward, she and I get our weekly groceries. On the way back to her house to pick up my car and go back home, I was helping myself to some runny chocolate. Some of the chocolate slipped out the side of my mouth and  ran down my face.

Carol said, “Mom, you have chocolate on your face. You need to get that off.”

“Oh, who do you think is going to see it? I’m heading home.”

“What if a cop stops you? It looks like blood.”

“Well then, I’ll just tell him, I’m bleeding internally and ask him to escort me to the hospital,” I joked. “It has probably been 25 years since a cop stopped me, and I had to pay a ticket.”

Carol is someone who believes if something unusual is brought up in a conversation, the universe it is likely to cause it to happen again. She is always telling me, "Don't say that. You'll make it happen."

Luckily, I did get the chocolate off my face. Carol helped me get my bags of groceries in the car by putting them all on the front seat beside me, and I started home.

Several times the bags on the seat tipped, and I put my hand out to grab at them so they wouldn’t fall off the seat and spill. Suddenly, I noticed a flashing red light behind me. There was no place to pull over, but there was no traffic behind me other than the cop, so I stopped.

As he walked toward my car, I opened the window and asked, “What did I do?”

“Lady, I need you to turn right up ahead and pull into the Walmart’s parking lot.”

I followed instructions, and he came over and asked for my license, registration, and if I had an insurance card. I gave him what he asked for, and he finally told me why I was stopped. My car had wobbled a couple of times toward a bike lane and back. Looking at my license I guess he noticed my age and decided I was either drunk, too old to drive, or on medication. I didn’t want to tell him I’d been grabbing for falling groceries.  

“Lady, I was just concerned about you. Do you think you’ll be able to make it home? I’m just going to issue you a warning ticket. You won’t have to go to court or anything. If you notice you are having trouble driving, you might need to consider some other options.”

I was humiliated but I assured him I felt fine.

When I got home, I had to call Carol to tell her she’d jinxed me by bringing up being stopped by a cop. Of course, it didn't help that she had put my groceries on the front seat.