Busted

More indications, if only my husband weren't the trusting sort, that I am obviously running around on him. I turned up in an unexpected place. Sort of.

Two days ago, as hubby was bringing in the mail, he asked, "Have you been in Westwego recently?"

I tried to recollect if I had ever been in Westwego, or if I could even find Westwego on a map, as hubby handed me a letter from the Westwego Photo Enforcement Program, which oddly enough, had an address in Arizona. Enclosed was a notice that stated in part, "As you can see from the photos to the right, a vehicle registered in your name and described below has been photographed exceeding the posted speed limit."

The vehicle "described below" was my Ford Mustang. As I could "see from the photos to the right", the vehicle exceeding the speed limit was a silver Dodge Stratus. One would think that an inability to tell a Ford Mustang from a Dodge Stratus would disqualify one from working for the Photo Enforcement Program, but stranger hires have been known to happen. Ask me about my experiences with the Ochsner Clinic billing department for examples.

I could see how the mistake was made. The number on the license plate was indeed mine. The number on the plate was mine, but the plate itself wasn't. My license plate has been issued by the state of Louisiana, and a more than cursory glance at the Stratus revealed that its license plate was issued by Mississippi. I could tell because the word "Jackson" was written across the bottom of the plate. In Mississippi, they put the name of the county in which a plate was issued on it. In Louisiana, we don't even have counties. The license plate on the Stratus also had a picture of a lighthouse on it, like the Biloxi lighthouse. In Louisiana, we have pelicans, but only on the newer plates. Old ones, like mine, are plain.

What with Arizona being an hour behind us, I was able to call right before the office closed and talk with a nice woman named Peggy about how Ford does not make a Stratus. She got my phone number and said she would talk to someone at the help desk and see what they had to say.

The next day, as I was grousing to my co-workers, (the very same co-workers who saw me in the office on the day I was supposedly speeding through Westwego) Peggy called. The citation against me had been voided, and called for no further action on my part. This is good, since now I don't have to find my way to the courthouse in Westwego to plead my case. I can just imagine getting lost, speeding to get there on time, and getting a ticket for real. That would be embarrassing.