Ok I haven’t posted a lot on Reddit so apologies if my storytelling skills sucks.
So I, 18, am a pretty new and nervous driver. I’m very paranoid about going over the speed limit, red lights, unprotected left turns, etc. This also includes when I drive by police. I live by a very busy street that people often speed on, so there’s often police sitting on the side of the road waiting to catch people.
Anyways, I was driving to work today on this street and I see a police car. I double check my speed but am still nervous driving by so I’m probably giving the police car a weird, scared, look. I was also running late to a family event and was having a quick snack while driving. I was eating/drinking one of those small squeeze applesauce pouches. So, I drive by the police car, applesauce in hand, thinking I’m good, when I see it’s lights turn on and it start to pull off the side of the road. I’m very panicked and worried that something is wrong, and I’ve never been pulled over before, so I quickly pull to the side and wait for the police officer to come to my window.
I should mention that I also look very young for my age, like people have asked if I’m a freshman in high-school, not college.
Anyways, he signals for me to roll down my window and I oblige, my heart racing. He tells me that he saw a vape in my hand while I was driving by, and knows that I’m both underage and not allowed to drive under the influence. I was shocked by this, as I don’t smoke, nor would I be doing it while driving. But even though I know it’s not true, I’m very intimidated by him and freeze, stumbling out a “W-what of course not” probably making me seem even more guilty.
He’s pretty nice and asks to see the vape, to which I tell him there is none. He doesn’t believe me says he clearly saw me take a puff while I was driving by. I’m literally racking my brain trying to think of what he’s talking about when I remember my applesauce. I quickly grab it from the center console where I put it down and show it to him, saying, “This is what I had in my hand when I drove by, I promise it’s just applesauce, not a vape” . He looks quizzically at it, takes it from my hand to examine it, and then starts laughing. He’s laughing so hard that I also start chuckling with him, thinking how incredulous this is. He says that my applesauce pouch was exactly what he’d seen through my window and had assumed it was a vape. I assure him that there’s nothing in the car and my applesauce is nicotine-free. He goes back to his car after apologizing for the scare (he must have noticed my panic) and I go back on my way.
When I get to the event, I tell my parents and some other family members the story, and while most of them laugh, my mom looks concerned. She talks to me afterwards and says that she’s not convinced. I’m confused, because why would I tell this story if I was lying about the vape/applesauce. She also knows how much I love this little applesauce pouches and that I often bring them in the car. So, she asks to search my car “just in case” and I let her. She finds nothing of course but still says she’s to going to keep an eye on me.
So basically my mom was more suspicious than a literal police officer about my vaping/applesauce habits. I’m still going to eat my applesauce in the car but try to not around the police I guess? I also have my mom watching me like a hawk whenever I go out now.
TL;DR I ate an applesauce pouch while driving, police thought it was a vape, it was most definitely not. My mom was still suspicious of me.
Comments
“Would you like a hit officer?”
You can’t drive under the influence? Yeah not buying this story. No one’s gonna see a vape and automatically assume its anything but a nicotine vape
Your mom is silly (and I’m being generous saying it that way)
Your mom must have some shit she’s hiding or got caught doing in her past.
Well. A whole new use of the phrase “getting [apple]sauced”.
Don’t eat and drive. Just drive, then eat. Or, eat, then drive, but don’t eat and drive.
Tifu by living in a fascist police state, doing absolutely nothing wrong and still being harassed by cops
I see people driving and vaping all the time (actually I drive and vape too). It seems like a strange thing to pull someone over for.
Aside from that, you’re legally an adult (even if not old enough to buy nicotine products) and I don’t think it’s appropriate for your mom to be so concerned about that, to the point of demanding to search your car.
Your mom shouldn’t care that much. You’re an adult and she should trust you like one. You aren’t a 14 year old accused of smoking, you’re 18. And it was resolved. I think it was pretty rude tbh
Politely tell your mom that since you’re old enough to go to war or buy a gun, she should chill about any vapes, imagined or otherwise.
Your mom gets high and had to check if she left her vape in the car.
Who CARES if you vape? You could do much worse at 18!
NTA
This is epic. You got pulled over for an applesauce pouch. Your mom’s still not buying it, huh? Guess you’re busted for being a snack culprit, not a vape enthusiast. Enjoy your applesauce, but maybe eat it when you’re parked.
Sorry but your mother, in fact, has every right to be concerned. It may seem innocent and harmless right now, but if you are “saucing” this early in your driving history, an intervention is really the best thing. You need to get off the sauce now while you can. Please don’t turn out like some of us who could never wean ourselves off of the Devil’s Packets.
It was a good story!
Your mom seems like a good mom, I hope, though overbearing at times. It will be a struggle for both you and your mom to transition into your own adulthood because she’s also learning to outgrow her child’s childhood. Moms gonna mom tho so continue to create healthy boundaries between yourself and mom so you have the space to make mistakes for yourself and learn from them by yourself for yourself.
Yeah, that wasn’t your only FU.
You’re a “pretty new and nervous driver” but thought it was a great idea to eat while you drove the multi-thousand-pound killing machine?
You shouldn’t be eating and driving (no, not even hand foods/drinks) at all, ever. It’s incredibly dangerous. But doing it when you know you’re a new and nervous driver? Yeah, that’s the FU, not getting pulled over. Don’t do things with your hands while also driving. That’s how people end up dead or permanently disabled. I know, because something like that happened to my sister, who now has permanent Traumatic Brain Injury thanks to the woman who rear-ended her while distracted.
You mean those little squeezable applesauces packets?
I LOVE mine!! I get the Kirkland brand ones. Organic and no sugar added.
In Washington, he could have ticketed you for distracted driving.