I prefer to be called "Neo-hippie"

My mom sends me all kinds of random emails - word of the day, quote of the day, religious forwards, and links to various stories she thinks I would find interesting in one way or another. The other day she sent me a link to a story on the MSN page, from Newsweek, about a new group of people called Lohasians. It turns out that this is a term they learned about from Beliefnet, who describes them as the new New Agers, living Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS). It's actually a marketing term for the group of late twenty-somethings and early-mid thirty-somethings that are concerned with recycling, eating organic foods, and trying new types of spirituality (or mixing parts from a variety of old spiritualities to be more accurate). They even give information on the 2006 LOHAS conference.

Why did my mom send this to me? Was it just something cool she found? Does she consider me to be one of these "Lohasians"? Is this a good thing? I will readily admit that I try to eat more organic foods, look for ways to recycle and buy recycled products, and am very interested in a wide variety of spiritual practices, but I am very leery of labels, especially when they are developed by marketers and sound like some kind of fusion ethnic term. I can't help but think back to when all the talk was going on in the media about "Generation X" and how we were all bitter, lazy, and lacked a sense of identity. Now we're being made out to be some kind of earthy, spiritual gumbo group worthy of marketing strategies - ugh!

I'm not upset about the conversation itself - anything to make the sustainable lifestyle more popular and easily accessible is great - but do we always have to come at it from a marketing standpoint? Why is this conversation happening becuase of business rather than because of religious values and teachings?? I don't live this way because it's cool, or affordable - I do it because I believe it's what God would like us all to do and it's what we need to for each other. And yet, even on a site called Beliefnet, they are not talking about it as a movement begun in religious teachings, but as a market. So for me personally, I'm not including myself in this group. I don't want to be called a Lohasian (but if you want to see if you fit in this group, there's a quiz you can take). If I have to choose a label (and we all do at some point, in some way) I'm going to reach back and align myself with movements that did this before me, people who helped make the way I live possible from their actions years ago.

Traffic Court - the aftermath

It SUCKED.

I was naive and the most humiliated I've ever been. I basically had to go to trial over a traffic ticket, representing myself and looking stupid. Riverside traffic court was not at all what I had expected or what other people told me traffic court would be like.

I got this ticket more than a month ago, and there was no information on the ticket about how much the fine would be or anything - just that there would not be any information mailed to the house and I needed to show up for court. Turns out you really do have to show up - even if you're just pleading guilty and want to pay the fine. I was on the 6 pm docket, as all the traffic cases were, and was one of about three people pleading not guilty. One by one everyone was called up before the judge to confirm the guilty plea before they were told how much the fine was and were taken to the clerk to pay. The city attorney/prosecutor came around to talk to all of us "not guilty" folk and asked me if I had a lawyer. When I said no, he kind of chuckled and I said, "Do I need one?" to which he relied, "Yeah, " as if I were a slow child or something.

I had no idea that I was basically going to trial. Nobody ever asked for my statement until I was sworn in by the judge - there was no attempt at lowering the charges or anything. The same jerk cop who gave me the ticket took the stand and talked about his radar and seeing my vehicle doing what he guessed was around 50 mph (NO FREAKIN' WAY!) and pulled me over. I won't name the cop, but if you're ever in Riverside, MO and see a very short white male with a shaved head, "respect my authori-tie" sunglasses and a WHOLE lot of attitude, that's him. After the cop gave his testimony led by the questions of the city attorney, I had the chance to ask him questions. I admit it - I watch way too many lawyer shows on tv and several questions were going through my mind, but not wanting to appear any more of an idiot than I already felt, I kept quiet, gave my statement when asked (which was basically that I was making a left hand turn from the stop light and was stopped so quickly after the intersection I didn't think there was any way I could have been going 45), and was then delcared guilty without the bat of an eye from the judge.

Being told I'm guilty was NOT the highlight of my life. I walked out the door which the bailiff held open to go to the clerk and pay my $225 fine (thank God for credit cards) and started crying. I never had a chance - nobody cared what my side of the story was. I've gone over the scenario so many times, trying to figure out what else I could have done/should have done but I don't know that it would have made any difference. Do you have any ideas? Would it have been worth it to hire a lawyer for a $225 fine? Granted, I'm also concerned about my driving record and insurance, but my record is pretty clean anyway, so it's not like this sends me to driving school or gets me suspended.

I've been trying to figure out why this was so bad for me - I cried the entire drive home after court and went from being pissed off to feeling like a scared little kid. I don't know if it was being declared guilty, seeing the jerk cop be a jerk again (and Bekah can back me up on his character), dealing with the jerk city attorney, or having to watch everyone else go before I got my chance so that I just kept getting more and more nervous. Ok, it was probably all of it combined. Angela was there with me, but she didn't know what to do any more than I did. I had to not only sit through the 6 pm docket cases but then there was the 7 pm docket with the assault, drug charges, etc. before they got to the "trials." Angela sat in the court room while I was paying my fine, and apparently the guy after me made more of an idiot of himself than I did, but that doesn't really make me feel any better.

Lesson learned - don't listen to what people tell you about traffic court because it all depends on where you go. If you go in Riverside, just save yourself the time and humiliation and plead guilty so you can pay the fine and get the heck out. I'll be damned if I drive through that town again.

Traffic Court - before

I have to go to traffic court tonight. I've never been before and I can't say that I'm looking forward to it, but here's the deal: I got a ticket for speeding in a construction zone (thus doubling the fine and looking really bad to my insurance company) when I don't think I possibly could have. I'm fighting the ticket in the hopes of saving paying a hefty fine and insurance rate increase.

It happened more than a month ago when I was driving my friend, Bekah, home from the airport. She lived in a small town (one that is completely surrounded by KC proper) and I'd only been to her house once before so I didn't really know the way. As she was directing me, we came upon an intersection full of orange cones. It had recently been paved but didn't yet have lines painted, and I was waiting at the stop light to make a left turn. While waiting for the light, Bekah was telling me where I'd be making my next turn, but I was trying to figure out where I was going to go when I made my left turn. There were so many cones and without the lines being painted I was nervous about turning into oncoming traffic. I slowly made the turn and tried to make sure I was going where I needed to go, and it was maybe a block out of that turn that the cop pulled me over. I don't know how fast I was going - the speedometer had not been my focus - but I was cited for doing 45 in a 25 mph construction zone. I don't think there's any way that I could have accellerated that fast - and Bekah and I were honestly VERY surprised by the whole incident. As it turned out, where I ended up pulling over was also right by where I was going to be making my next turn to get to her house (a second reason I couldn't have been going that fast, if I was going to be making another turn that soon). I used to work for a police department and for the most part I respect the work that those officers do, but this guy wasn't very nice about the whole thing. He never once tried to be friendly or even cracked a smile. He was really kind of mean - and I'm hoping he was just having a bad or something, because I'd hate to think of anyone being like that all the time.

Like I said, I've never been to court before (other than being called once as a witness at a hearing when I was a police dispatcher). I'm dressing up (even wearing a skirt) and going to try to be polite and succinct. I'm really hoping the officer doesn't show up for court, which supposedly happens quite often. Then I won't have to pay the fine and the charges will be dismissed. If the officer is there, I will simply state me case as best as I can and hope for the best. At worst, the charges hold and I have to pay the fine as if I would have just signed the ticket. I've got nothing to lose. I just wish that made my stomach stop flip flopping...

My KC Star Debut - for real!

Well, the article wasn't in the Saturday paper as I was told it would be - or the Sunday paper. But it made it in today!!! Here's the link. I was a little scared about what I might have said and how it might have been used. As it turns out, I'm only quoted once, but it was a pretty good (although grammatically bad) comment. It's even the closing line!! Whew - a sense of relief, and yes, pride. I even managed to get the seminary name and group name both mentioned. I hope nobody at SPST minds. :)