THE ARREST
A young man was sitting at a stop light in downtown New Orleans one evening, when the lady in front of him was distracted as she was going thru some papers on her front seat. The red light changed to green and the young woman did not move.
The young man was a bit put off by this and gently bumped his horn to remind her that she was driving and not at the library or at her office. But even with his gentle reminder, she did not move, and before he knew the light turned yellow and then red again!
When the light turned red, and the young lady had still not moved, this young man began (with his windows up) screaming at the top of his lungs and beating his fists on his steering wheel.
He was shocked when he heard a knock on his window, he turned to look and saw a policeman with his gun drawn, tapping on his window. The policeman told him to step out of the car and he handcuffed him. As he was putting him in the back of the patrol car the young man [still in disbelief] began to protest. "You can’t arrest me for screaming at her from inside my car!"
The patrolman looked at him and told him to be quiet and then got into his car and drove them to the police station. After two hours in a holding cell, the officer came in and told the young man that he was free to go.
The man told him, "You have stepped in it now, my friend. I know that I cannot be arrested for screaming and throwing a fit in MY OWN car... You haven’t heard the last of this."
The police officer calmly responded to him by saying, "Sir, you were not arrested for shouting or throwing a fit in your car! You see, I was sitting directly behind you at that light. I saw you screaming and beating your steering wheel, and I said to myself, ’What a jerk. But there is nothing I can do to him for throwing a fit in his own car.’
"Then I noticed the Cross hanging from your rear view mirror, the Know Jesus Know Peace bumper sticker, and the Fish symbol on the back of your car, and I thought... this is not his car, it must be stolen, and that is why you were arrested."
(From a sermon by Bobby Stults, "The ’Character’ of Light" 1/13/2009)