A $180.00 speeding ticket...wort h it!

I'm usually not known for being wild on the road.  I always wear my seatbelt and drive the speed limit.  But this particular weekend in mid October 2003 had my adrenalin on overdrive.

My husband and I were cranked up for what we knew would be a fantastic solo acoustic show by Glass Tiger lead singer Alan Frew at London, Ontario's Wits End Pub.  Two months before we had witnessed Alan's solo talents during his "Frewvention" convention in St. Catherines, Ontario.  Now we wanted to attend the first of Alan's "pub tour" shows.  Some of the proceeds from these performances were going to Bloorview MacMillan Children's Hospital in Toronto.  Considering what we had already experienced in August, we knew we were in for a treat.

The majority of the music we were listening to during our ride through New York state consisted of Glass Tiger songs.  One of these was "Animal Heart", a high-powered metal tune from their third CD "Simple Mission".

I was at the controls as we cruised along the NY thruway.  The song was blasting on the CD player and I was singing along to the song:  "Pressure's risin'/I see your eyes and/I know that the game is you.."

Suddenly I see blue lights flashing behind me.  Cops?  Where did they come from?  When?  Oh my God!  I'd never been stopped for speeding in my life!

"Do you know how fast you were going, miss?"

"Uh, no," I replied, feeling tears welling in my eyes.

"You were going 83 miles per hour in a 65 zone."

Is that all?  I could've sworn I was going much faster.  "Okay."

I couldn't deny it.  I knew I was at fault.  I held my breath as he handed me the slip:  $180.00!

"Have a nice day," the officer said and headed back to his cruiser.

We drove on in silence.  I continued to cry off and on through the rest of the trip and spent so much time concentrating on the speed I was going that I didn't know what we were listening to.

We made it to London in one piece and greatly enjoyed the show.  The ride home was uneventful.  And now I have a rule never to play "Animal Heart" while on any highway.  The rhythm is just too distracting for me!