A flashy New York lawyer blows through a stop sign and gets pulled over by a small-town West Virginia sheriff.
Confident in his expensive suit and oversized ego, the lawyer smirks and says,
“Why did you stop me?”
The sheriff replies,
“You didn’t come to a complete stop at that stop sign. License and registration.”
The lawyer chuckles.
“I slowed down. Nobody was coming.”
The sheriff folds his arms.
“You still didn’t STOP.”
Now fully in courtroom mode, the lawyer grins and says,
“Officer, I’m an attorney. I know the law. If there’s nobody coming, slowing down is perfectly safe. You can’t seriously tell me that a few inches of movement makes a difference.”
The sheriff looks at him for a moment.
Then he calmly reaches into his patrol car.
The lawyer watches curiously.
The sheriff pulls out his ticket book.
“Step out of the vehicle.”
The lawyer laughs.
“For what?”
The sheriff points to the side of the road.
“I’d like you to stand right over there.”
The lawyer reluctantly gets out.
The sheriff walks over and points to a spot.
“Stand here.”
The lawyer looks confused.
“Why?”
“Just stand there.”
The lawyer sighs and does as he’s told.
The sheriff walks back to the patrol car.
Then suddenly takes out his baton.
The lawyer’s eyes widen.
“What are you doing?”
The sheriff walks toward him.
“I’m going to hit you with this baton.”
The lawyer takes a step back.
“Are you insane?!”
The sheriff stops.
“Why are you backing up?”
“Because you’re going to hit me!”
The sheriff nods.
“Exactly.”
He points toward the lawyer’s car.
“You didn’t need to know whether I was going to hit you.”
The lawyer stares at him.
“You only needed to know that I was going to stop.”
The sheriff smiles.
“Same thing with the stop sign.”
The lawyer stands there silently.
The sheriff holds out his hand.
“License and registration.”
The lawyer slowly reaches into his pocket.
“Fine.”
The sheriff writes the ticket.
Before handing it over, he looks up.
“You lawyers always have a lot to say.”
The lawyer sighs.
“We’re trained to argue.”
The sheriff smiles.
“That’s okay.”
He hands him the ticket.
“I’ve been trained to listen.”
The lawyer looks at the ticket.
Then at the sheriff.
Then quietly gets back into his car.
As he drives away, the sheriff watches him go.
His deputy asks,
“Sheriff, did you really intend to hit him?”
The sheriff grins.
“No.”
The deputy laughs.
“So why did you pull out the baton?”
The sheriff shrugs.
“Because I wanted to demonstrate something.”
“What?”
The sheriff looks at the empty road.
“Sometimes the best way to explain the law…”
He smiles.
“…is to let someone experience the difference between ‘almost stopping’ and ‘stopping.’”
And the deputy shook his head.
“Sheriff, remind me never to argue with you.”
The sheriff laughed.
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day.”
