Stop at the First Mistake

Near an airport where I sometimes work, the local law enforcement folks set up one of those Speed Limit/Your Speed signs. The first few days, it surprised me how routinely I exceeded the posted limit, and I amended my behavior.

Signs like that are often posted as a warning – “Hey, actual enforcement is going to start soon. This is your chance to change your behavior.” Sure enough, about three weeks after the sign first went up, a person on a motorcycle came ripping down the road, saw the police ahead fire up their lights, and decided to flee.

I get the temptation. Nobody wants a ticket, particularly when they’re already running late. I can almost hear them thinking, I can get away.

Next came the high-speed chase. Lights and sirens. More excitement than local law enforcement gets on an average Tuesday morning.

The motorcyclist got away, sort of. After their fruitless chase, the police went into the offices along the airport road and asked about people who might ride motorcycles to work. Eventually someone talked. 

What started out as a bad day became worse for the rider. I’m not sure what charges they’ll face, but it’s likely to be more than a simple 45 in a 35 ticket.

I’d been mulling that over when I watched a Pat McNamara (@patmcnamara) video on the importance of failing quickly. His premise is that everyone has bad moments, stuff happens, it’s normal, but don’t let a bad five minutes become a bad hour, day, week, life. Rebound, suck it up and move on.

Later that same day, I saw a video with lawyer Angela Cenedella (@thelawyerangela) discussing the three things she will teach her children as they grow up:

1. Never confess to your mother on the jailhouse phone – they’re monitored and recorded. Tell your mother/lawyer where you are and wait for them to come to you.
2. Tell the arresting authorities immediately about any trauma – physical, mental, emotional, etc. Get it documented and get help.
3. Stop at the first mistake. Don’t spiral. Take your punishment, learn from it, and move on. 

Recently in Houston, a 17-yr-old working as a valet at a restaurant was handed the keys to an Infiniti G37. The keys and an entire metric ton of temptation. He went for a joy ride, did some donuts in a parking lot, flew past a cop, fled from the cop, and tried to hide the car back at the restaurant. He was going far too fast as he pulled in. He hit and killed three other valets. What might have been a relatively minor incident, spiraled quickly. He was convicted on three counts of murder and sentenced to three 10-year terms to be served concurrently. BTW, he was too young to legally work as a valet. There’s more fallout to come from this tragedy.

It’s understandable to want to run from a mistake. Don’t. If you’re in a life-threatening situation, retrograde movement may still be advised, but don’t compound a mistake by adding others to it.