Many schools these days, mostly elementary and middle schools, have instituted something called “Caught Being Good.” The idea is that a student who is caught doing something good or right is recognized by the school, usually in the form of a special lunch or special day. I like the idea that schools are praising positive elements in addition to punishing negative behaviors. Could you imagine how the world could be changed if we did that in our daily lives? “Ma’am, that was a perfect stop sign stop, complete with turn signal use.” “Sir, you’ve saved 20% of your paycheck for the last six months. Good job.” “Kim Jong Il, you’ve…uh…” ok, I can’t think of anything for North Korea other than the whole population hasn’t yet starved to death.
I had my court date this morning for the speeding ticket from hell. I was not looking forward to it. A six-point ticket for going 61 in a 35 was not going to be pretty. I was ok until I saw the paper that stated that going more than 25 mph over the speed limit and going more than 15 mph over in a 35 mph were both punishable by up to $1000 in fines and up a year in jail. I did both. Not good. I met with the prosecuting attorney beforehand, and because of my clean driving record it was dropped down to a 3 point ticket. Whew. Still a $180 fine, but much better than it could have been.
I’ve never been caught being good, and I don’t think that would have kept me from driving too fast. I still maintain that I was going so fast because I was going downhill, but it’s behind me now.