My encounter with a Hawaiian Police

If you hadn't noticed yet, I am a perpetually late person. Especially in the mornings. I blame it on my inability to hear my obnoxious phone alarm clock going off at least 5 times within an hour's span, or my lack of sleep the night before because I have procrastinated on the extravagant amount of work I have to do. For whatever reason, the bottom line is that I am always in a rush to get to my next destination--leaving me no choice but to speed.
Perhaps it's the mental adrenaline or anxiety that always compels me to push the gas pedal at full speed on straight open roads, but I usually always have a legitimate enough to justify my breaking the law. Today, however, I wasn't even that late or in that much of a hurry, but I had internalized the habit of driving fast so much that I automatically hit the gas as soon as I reached the open road. I was zooming past all cars (slightly wondering why they were going so slow) when I saw a cop car pulling out onto the road. His partner, who was driving a blue van, waved at me to stop on the road. Shit.. I thought. I guess it hadn't hit me that I was driving 40 in a 25 mph residential zone. I didn't even have my insurance card yet, but thank God I got my car registered a few days ago. As he walked towards me, he asked for my license and registration, which I had to get out of the car to get. "I'm so sorry officer. We were just late to class..." I said with teary eyes and a shaking voice. Caroline, who was sitting next to me, quietly agreed. Where's your insurance card? The policeman asked when I handed him my registration and driver's license. I just got my car a few days ago and I registered for insurance but it hasn't come in the mail yet," I lied. "They didn't send you a sheet of paper or a temporary card?" he asked. I shook my head. Caroline was surprisingly calm for the situation we were in. I later understood why. The cop was wrinkling his eyes in the sun and I could see his farmer's tan from under his uniform. "You know I could tag you for not having your insurance," he said. I gulped and nodded, waiting anxiously, either for mercy or punishment. "Just drive more carefully next time, alright?" he said, handing back my license and registration. I was in shock. "Thank you so much!" I yelled, as he was already walking back to his blue van.

"Oh my gosh, I was about to have a heart attack," I told Caroline, finally calming down enough to breathe normally. "Yeah, there are a lot of cops in Hawaii," she said. "But a lot of them are really laid back. They'll usually just let you go." Maybe it was just my bad experience with cops in the past, but I had never considered that possibility (for cops to be so lenient, that is). "Even if they catch you with a bag of weed," she continued, "they'll take it and let you go." She laughed. "They'll just smoke it by themselves." We analyzed the nature of cops in Hawaii. It might just be the weather that they're so nice. That and perhaps the fact that they have nothing else to do. Whatever the reason, I feel indebted to Hawaiian cops and feel a weird endearment towards them because they let me go. What a selfish feeling indeed.