Peaceful, law-abiding citizen or hardened criminal?

I had a run-in with the law this morning on my way to work. This was interesting to me because I value the rule of law in America, and I consider myself generally non-disruptive when it comes to living a life in harmony with other members of society. I don't even speed (5-7 mph over limit doesn't count).

But as I turned right onto Geary Rd. at approximately 8:45 this morning, a Pleasant Hill police officer followed my squeaky, $500 Honda with lights flashing. I rolled down my window and discovered that my violation was the lack of a shoulder seat belt. Here's where the story can go one of two ways - what I imagined, and what actually happened.

What I imagined: I erupted into a satirical tirade, cleverly pointing out to this bureaucrat-in-a-fiberglass-box that the only possible logic that could justify my being pulled over for a seatbelt infraction is that the government knows better than I do how to take care of myself. "How strange," I mused, "that with all the good law enforcement could be doing in this world, I am being confronted because the State of California thinks I am jeopardizing my personal safety." Driving without a seatbelt might be a mistake, but I do not pay (ridiculous amounts of) state taxes to correct other mistakes, like failure to balance a checkbook, building a diet around Ben & Jerry's ice cream, or attempting to jump from building to building like Spiderman. [Realism: I can think of a few possible arguments for a seatbelt law on the grounds of its affect on social welfare, but they are a stretch and also it's a slippery slope.]

What actually happened: I nervously and submissively explained how we just got the car and haven't registered it yet (it was actually a month ago and we just hate the DMV and keep procrastinating), how the electronic system just recently failed and disabled the automatic shoulder belt feature (need to get that fixed, but the officer pointed out that I can do it manually), and eventually, how Bennett has a habit of rifling through my wallet and now I can't find my (Massachusetts) driver's license. So it turns out, I actually was breaking several laws (mostly the bureaucratic ones that I don't feel as bad about), but the officer was friendly, merciful, and overall just doing his job of enforcing the will of the people. I was glad I was nice, because I think this approach went over much better than the alternative.

Ethics of Parenting

You're lying on the floor playing with your 11-month-old. The familiar sensation of warm liquid on your arm brings you out of your daydream and into the reality of a stream of white spit-up literally connecting you with your offspring. It forms a pool on your arm and drips onto the carpet of the house you have lived in for approximately seven days, followed by an agile baby maneuver that results in a knee covered in spit-up.

The liquid grosses you out, bothers your baby and begins to seep into the carpet. You reach for the wipes and find one left in the green plastic cannister. Here's the dilemma: what do you clean first? Your arm, your carpet, or your child?