About a year ago, I received my first speeding ticket in a little town named Brookshire, right outside of Katy, TX. I was going 84 in a 65…I’m a speed demon, I know. Rather than having my insurance skyrocket again, I opted to take a comedy defensive driving course online. Honestly, it wasn’t THAT funny but I’m pretty sure it was a lot easier and less dreadful than a regular defensive driving class. So after sitting at the computer for 6 hours listening to corny driving jokes, I finally “graduated” and sent my certification of completion to the Brookshire Municipal Court.
Over a year later, I get a letter from the city of Brookshire stating that I had to make an appearance in court because I didn’t send any proof of completing a defensive driving class…I guess it got lost in the mail or something. Anyways, I was rather confused and irritated because who wants to go to court. Oh did I mention the courthouse was about 2 hours away from Austin? I had two options: to show up in court at 9 A.M. with my certificate of completion OR pay a fine $114 and have a warrant out for my arrest. It’s pretty obvious which choice I made.
So yesterday, I woke up at 5 A.M. to drive to the city of Brookshire to go to court. The drive wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I got to watch the sunrise, which was nice. It took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. We showed up early so I figured I would treat myself to a nice honey butter chicken biscuit at Whataburger. I was SUPER nervous since this was my first time ever going to court. Luckily, my sweet boyfriend came along. When I got there, I was told to sit inside the courtroom until my name was called. I’ll be honest, I was kind of expecting to be similar to Judge Judy but it wasn’t at all. The judge’s assistant, interpreter, and the judge all sat behind a big, wooden counter. The prosecutor stood in front of the counter, calling out whose turn it was to walk up to the counter for their case. It was not formal either…I mean there was a man wearing overalls. After about 20 minutes, my name was finally called and my case was mentioned. The prosecutor asked if I had my proof and I gave it to her and case dismissed! I didn’t even have to talk to the judge, which was a big relief because he looked super intimidating. I’ve learned my lesson and my speed demon days are over. Speeding just isn’t worth it.