Civic

I've got to hand it to NYPD. I drove around for about two weeks in early April without wearing a seatbelt. A seatbelt was about the last thing I wanted to put over my seatbelt-related injury. I just drove extremely defensively and took my chances.

I was starting to get pretty cavalier about "the Law", thinking cops don't pay much attention.

And then of course the very week I thought that to myself I got stopped twice.

The first time the cop was pleasant enough when I explained my injury, but still gave me a ticket and assured me I could go to court to argue it.

The second time the cop was in an unmarked car and had a militancy about him - hard core takes-no -shit kind of guy. I told him about the injury, showed him my 4 inch scar, and he immediately said (with the air of someone who knows), "I don't mess with anybody with any scars on their body or arms", and let me go.

There was no third time because I got tired of getting stopped, so now I wear the lap belt but side-down the shoulder strap. It is still risky I know. I used up a few of my nine lives in January and don't want to contemplate any sort of repeat. Be careful! I see assholes driving like idiots every day. It ain't worth it.

So my court date to argue the seatbelt ticket is in November.

It was April 17 that the guy stopped me. My 6 month ins. card had expired on the 15th and I had neglected to put the new one in my wallet, but had the old one. So he actually gave me two tix, assuring me I could argue the ins card as well.

So I am now leaving to go down to 19 Rector St in lower Manhattan to deal with it.

Probably not my idea of an ideal afternoon, but all the times I've done jury duty down there, or dealt with other things official, I've always dug the vibe. Something about the history and the quirky little Old-World streets which are now New-World canyons. New Amsterdam 1626. New York 2006.