Go California!

Fresh out of school and with my parents and sister visiting me from India, I really, really wanted to do something special. I decided that we would go on an American road trip from the Mid-west to California, in close proximity to the Route 66 - heading from Chicago to St.Louis to Los Angeles. Hell yeah, I wanted to be the Little Mr Sunshine. There was only one problem: I was the only driver and the farthest distance that I have driven was during my driving licence test. It was ambitious, but I decided to trust myself.

Two days before we were scheduled to start, we decided to go to a movie. While we were driving to the theater, we saw the cop giving a ticket to somebody on the shoulder. I brisked away past them - all the while explaining to my parents what tailgating was and how cops here cannot be bribed. While they were still getting to terms with the fact that cops in the US were not funny people - my mom saw something flaring at the back. Oh yeah, the cops were behind us. My dad quickly said to me - just drive faster! I was like - whaaaaaat! I didn't know what the problem was: my dad didn't have the seat belt on, and I thought thats what the problem was. Apparently, the cop didn't like the fact that we brisked past the shoulder without changing the lane. Pretty ridiculous I thought?

Yeah, I had got my first ticket. While the cop was busy getting the ticket, my mom gently whispered in my ear: "Vamsi, is he going to arrest you? You know no one in our family has gone to a jail till now!

Once the movie was done, we had to quickly come back home. It was past midnight and we had to get back home. I did not think I was speeding at all, till the cops were tailgating me again. Ah, not again - you don't get two tickets in a day - it must be the guy in front of me. But, there was no one in front of me. There he was - Mr. Cop again telling me that I was speeding. While my dad was still trying to understand why the cops were not sleeping at 1AM, the cop asked me for the car registration. And, I gave him exactly one more thing: the previous ticket too-neatly folded inside the car- registration papers. Well, the cop said - "Gentleman, that's interesting! You sure are drunk - aren't you?". My mom mustered enough strength, looked at the cop and said fiercely - "My son doesn't drink alcohol. But, I think he is a little sleepy". That was not good enough for the cop - and I got my second ticket.

Now I had two tickets with the entire road trip in front of me... Would I risk getting suspended on the road in the middle of my road trip? The very thought scared me - but what the heck, when else would I get the opportunity to do something like this? I did it anyways! It was a shorter road trip - but I did it! Anyways, thats a whole another story!

The point is - Now, I am here in sunnyCalifornia today- and I very excited. I look forward to working with eBay to create colorful commerce - free of cops.