Day 75

The other day, I was riding my bike while talking on my cell phone. (In general, I am not the safest biker/rollerblader... which might explain why I'm now on a first-name basis with the staff at the Penn Hospital Emergency Room.) All of a sudden, I get stopped by a cop. She says I'm not allowed to bike while on the phone. "I'm letting you off with a warning," she says, and hands me a slip. I look at it; it's a gray peice of paper with a drawing of a biker in what appears to be quite serious pain, plus the word "WARNING" along the top. By the bottom, it reads, "Riding a bike while talking on a phone is illegal as of December 1, 2009." I look at the slip, then I look at the cop. Then I look at the slip again. "This says that the law isn't in effect until next month," I say. "I know," the cop answers, "it's just a warning." "A warning for WHAT," I ask, "I haven't done anything illegal." "Yes," the cop answers, "that's why I'm letting you off with a warning."

This goes on for several minutes. Eventually, I crumpled up the slip of paper in frustration and left.

I got a ticket for littering.