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The off duty police officer did a quick U-turn to catch up with a car he just passed. He saw an adult male on the passenger side, but in the driver seat he saw a small child hanging onto the steering wheel, peeping just over the dash of the car as it drove down a quiet residential sreet on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

"Letting the kid have some fun today?", the officer asked the man with just a dash of sarcasm. Sheridan did not have a lot of activities, especially on Sundays. They rolled up the sidewalks, went to church, and waited for Monday. People would come up with their own entertainment, such as teaching your elementary schooler to drive.

"He has a license," the man said. I looked up at the officer, reached into my pocket and pulled out my temporary learner's permit. At age 15, weighing 70 lbs and only 4' 4" tall, I was often mistaken for a much younger child.

The officer looked at the license skeptically, turning it in the light, examining it very closely. He looked at me, then looked at the picture on the license, looked again, then handed it back to me. "Well, be careful," he drawled, and left us alone.

I put the car into gear and drove on. The man in the car, my Dad, commented that the officer must not have anything to do.

Dad always put a lot of confidence in my abilities, and seemed rather put off when someone else questioned them. I do not know if he just did not want me to be embarrassed because of my size, or if really did get upset when I was not accepted as normal. Either way, Dad always insisted I could do anything anyone else my age could, and do it better. This confidence was probably the greatest gift that anyone has ever given me.

Dad actually taught me to drive when I was 14 years old. We would go outside of town onto country roads in Dad's 59 Chevy truck. Standing on the sideboard outside the driver door, Dad kept a hand close to the steering wheel as I guided the truck over gravel roads.

The truck had a gear shift on the floor, and had to be double clutched. That meant you had to push the clutch twice each time you shifted gears. Since there was no power steering or brakes, it was quite a job to turn and stop.

Driving around Sheridan was a unique experience for me. I did not have the problem of big city traffic, but since it was a small town you were easily spotted if you did anything wrong.

I purchased an old beat up motorcycle to use on a paper route when I was 14 years old. Early, early morning I would zip through my route delivering newspapers. I was the only one up and around.

Since it was so early, and I was the only one around, it did not make sense to me to have to stop at every stop sign, so I would slow down, look both ways and keep on going.

One morning I found that someone else was also up Early. We called him Red, and he patrolled in his police cruiser on the night and early morning shift. Red took it upon himself to inform me that he did not appreciate my rolling stops.

I asked him why it mattered since he and I were the only ones alive at this hour, but he assured me that world peace would be threatened if I did not come to a complete stop at each and every stop sign. So I promised to become a law abiding citizen.

Red also was not sure that I was old enough to drive a motor bike, but showed him my driver's license. ( In Wyoming you can get a motorbike license at the age of 14). He called in the license, which was legit, but still unconvinced swore to find out the truth.

Early the next dark morning, as I ran my route, Red hit his siren and pulled me over. He seemed peeved again. I wished him a good morning and asked if he noticed that I was now stopping at all stop signs. He nodded in a short tempered way, and asked what took me so long to pull over. My confused look on my face prompted him to explain that he had followed me for two blocks with his lights on, yet I failed to pull over. "Don't you ever look in your rear view mirror?" Red huffed. Red was sure I was just ignoring him.

"There is no one around in the morning, so I never look in my rear view mirror" I explained. Red did not seem to like this answer, but he left me alone.

That summer, Red pulled me over more than 15 times. Each time he would ask to see my driver's license, look at it hand it back to me and then let me go. Each time I would ask why he was pulling me over, but he never gave me an answer. I suspect he was trying to catch me without my license.

Toward the end of summer I was finishing my morning route, when I saw Red's car parked on main street. I walked up to the car to say hi, and I noticed Red was fast asleep.

What an opportunity!! I thought of a lot of ways that I could take advantage of this situation, but most of them would have got me into more trouble than I needed. So I settled on leaving a note on the steering wheel. It said, "If I had been a criminal, you would have missed me. Enjoy your nap."

The next day, I saw Red's cruiser parked in the same place, and I pulled up beside him. "Hi Officer Red! How are you?" I asked. Red looked at me and nodded. "I came by here yesterday morning, and you were sleeping." Red emphatically denied my accusation, saying that he has never fallen asleep on duty. And that was the end of that conversation.

Red did not admit I caught him sleeping on duty, but he never pulled me over again. Hmmm.

You can read all the chapters of "Tims Home Town Stories" by going to http://timshometownstories. com. Other stories written by Tim are at http://salessuccessmagazin e.com These stories are copyrighted by Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. 1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000. Any person using this article must publish it without modification and include authors bio and links.

About the author: Timothy L Drobnick Sr has helped many people make money on the internet. Websites to visit for income opportunity are yobisc.com, http://virusfreespamfree.com< /a>, and http://myshoppingplace.net.