This morning I went to traffic court to fight a speeding ticket. I was mad about the ticket because I really didn't think the charge was right. I did my homework and went to court prepared.

The constable who gave me the ticket was there, with the same nasty attitude he had the day he charged me. He cut in on me while I was addressing the judge, and the judge didn't like that. He was trying to tell her that I had another speeding ticket 7 years ago. I guess he thought that had relevance to his case. The judge cut him off by saying she didn't care about my driving record in the past, and then she turned back to me. He was pissed off, and that made me feel good.

I asked for the papers he had in relation to the case, and took my time looking them over while everyone waited. I got him on a technicality - his radar gun had not been calibrated in the previous six months before he used it to "catch" me. The judge reprimanded him for using it without updated calibration and adjudicated me "not guilty" because "the state failed its burden of proof."

If that had not worked , I had another important argument ready, but after I saw the problem with the equipment, I knew I wouldn't need to bring up the other argument. Valid as it was, it wasn't needed for me to win my case.

As I was walking out of the courtroom, there were still other people waiting for their turn to be heard. The guy sitting on the outside of the first row gave me a "fist pump" sign and I grinned back at him. The guy sitting in the second row gave a smile and a "thumbs up" At that, I couldn't resist, I gave him a fist pump and did a little jump. I was feeling so triumphant!! The woman in the third row whispered "Way to go!"

I hope the constable noticed the exuberance on my part, and on the part of the others. I hope it made him miserable. He deserved it. I just hope the fat slug didn't go home tonight and take out his frustration on his wife or girlfriend by beating them up.