..... or should I say State Troopers. Here's the lowdown. I was about 10 miles north of Idaho Falls. i think everyone knows that i moved out of my house, everything i own is in the back of my truck, and that i am a dirty ski bum on a ski bumming road trip for the moment. well, i came up over one of the hills north of IF, and see a trooper in the median. i wasn't speeding, was perfectly fine, and drove past him. i got about a quarter mile down the road, and saw him pull out. now there were two vehicles behind me at this point, so i figured he must have pinged one of them. WRONGO! he comes right up on my ass, and matches speed. and i think, great, he is gunning for me. came up beside me, looked into the car, and then got back on my ass. at this point i know i'm getting pulled over, so i have slowed to about 65. the lights go on, i pull over. he gets out of his car, hand on his sidearm, and starts walking up to my vehicle. i can see him reading all my stickers as he is walking up, and he suddenly changes his mind and comes up on my passenger side. i rolled down my window and greeted him with a pretty kind hello officer. the first words out of his mouth were, i smell pot. and i said, excuse me? he then began to question me for about 15 minutes about my history with the ganja. i was perfectly honest, and told him, yes i went to college, yes i smoked, no there is no druggage in my vehicle, no paraphenelia, (sp?) no nothing. FIFTEEN minutes go by, and he finally asked me to remove my sunglasses again. i did, and looked him directly in the eye. he said, well, they look clear enough. then he asks for license, and registration. i gave it to him, and this begins another five minutes or so of asking why my father's name is on the registration instead of mine, where i bought the car, if it was used when i got it, a total random line of questioning. he finally states about now that the reason he initiated contact was because of the tinting on my windows. i said, ok, well, it is a factory tinting, do you mean the stickers? is that why you pulled me over. he said no. by now i am getting pretty pissed off, so i ask again. are you SURE you didn't pull me over because of my stickers? No. He has been throwing attitude at me since he pulled me over, so i throw it back. he then says, well, i need to measure your tinting. so he goes back to his car, and brings back some sort of magnetic device that goes on the window. he then states, well, your windows are at 17% and idaho law only allows 20% and i said 20% of what? he never answered my question. then he sticks his head in the vehicle, and looks at my far back passenger window. and i ask if he needs to measure that one too. he says, well it would be nice. now there is twenty tons of crap blocking access to it, so i said well i will unload some gear and let you read it, but you won't be able to search my bags or my equipment without a warrant. he again says it would be nice to look at that window. and i say again, you do not have permission to search my vehicle. you need a warrant. suddenly he starts backtracking, and says, well they must be the same, since it came from the dealer this way. he realizes at this point he isn't gonna get me, so he throws my paperwork back in the car and says, drive safe. i threw quite a bit of attitude and said, thank you OFFICER, you too.
Long and short, this guy thought he was going to get a pot bust based on my political stickers, and the fact that i am a dirty looking hippy. when he realized wasn't dealing with someone who would give up their rights and who wouldn't be bullied, he backed off. i didn't get a ticket, i didn't get any kind of paperwork saying that he had contact with me, he didn't even run my driver's license. As i was driving off, he followed me, and about four or five miles later, i passed a F250 trooper vehicle, with a k-9 unit sticker on the side. he eye raped me, but didn't do anything. the other officer turned around at county line, and let me get to montana without further incident. so, idaho state troopers, with all due respect, SUCK MY DICK!
