Yesterday, as I zipped onto the ramp leading to the highway that would take me home, I came face to face with a police officer who was standing in the middle of the road and pointedly staring into the cars as we passed him. I assume he was checking for seat belt usage but if anyone had been talking on a cell phone, they would have been snagged (it is illegal in this state to use anything but a hands-free device while driving) based on where the policeman was positioned--an illicit chatter would have had no time to ditch the phone before being seen. While relieved that I had my seatbelt on (I always do) and wasn't talking on my phone (I never do--anymore), I suddenly became angry that while I know I would have been ticketed for breaking rules, I was not commended for obeying them.

I have always been, for the most part, an obeyer of rules. I don't walk on the grass, talk in the theater (not even during the coming attractions) or pop a grape into my mouth before I've reached the check-out. The time has come to reward the virtuous as well as punish the guilty and next time a cop stares into my car, hoping to catch me doing something naughty, I am going to pull over, leap out and demand my "Atta girl!" for doing the right thing. 

I wonder whether he'll slam my head down on the hood before snapping on the cuffs....and, if I can depend on any of you for bail money...?