Membership will cost you $170... and five cents.

Back when birthdays were still meaningful milestones, I was one of the first of my friends to turn 16 and start driving. This meant several things: 1. I could charter myself to and from my part-time job at the local library; and 2. I could charter myself and my friends home from school and drama rehearsals... as long as I was home before midnight.

I remember the first few months were pretty terrifying, despite a rigorous Maryland driver's education course (complete with "Chuck" who told me I'd have no trouble passing my license test if I wore a short skirt). I was especially paranoid of left hand turns and used to go out of my way to avoid them. I joked (sort of) with my friends that it would cost them a nickel for each one.

Since then I've grown more comfortable with left turns. Now I make them all the time, even sometimes when I'm not supposed to. Today it cost me a lot more than a nickel. Sitting in the packed courtroom, staring at the ceiling (You cannot cry in front of all these people!!), and thinking about how much I hate this city (as I often do whenever I interact with the government or it rains or it's hot), I randomly spotted a friend of mine across the room.

The courtroom shrank. I was no longer a foreigner or a criminal. It was a CLUB! A dammit-why-didn't-I-see-that-cop-oh-well-this-sucks sort of club.

On the other hand, one nice-looking man had his ticket dismissed for going 75 in a "660 mph zone". I wanna be a member of that club.