the night police watched and stopped them 11  With hours of late night driving ahead of them to go from Gatlinburg, Tenn. to Union County, the tourists stopped near West Memphis for snacks and soda. From there the road quickly became a construction zone with asphalt so new it fell inches to the old shoulder. They readily obeyed the road signs stating, “Fines double in construction zone. Speed limit 45 MPH.” At that speed, with no passing lane, first one and then two cars caught up and followed them. The short convoy ended when the last car began flashing blue lights. The officer did not want the middle car to pull over, he wanted the tourists to stop. To avoid the steep asphalt drop off, the driver drove to a safe spot to stop. “I wonder what that’s all about,” the driver said as she gathered her driver’s license, car registration and proof of insurance. The officer leaned down and looked in the window, “Ma’am you were driving too slow. You had two cars behind you.” “Well the signs said 45 mph in the construction zone. I was going 45.” (No sign said to speed up late at night.) “Ma’am you need to be aware of when you have two cars behind you and pull over,” he said as he shone his flashlight around the interior of the van, tapped her door and said, “Be careful. Take it easy and watch the cars behind you.” He returned to the squad car. The travelers looked at each other, mouthing, “two cars behind us?” They shrugged and proceeded down the road An hour or so later another set of flashing blue lights interrupted their late night conversation. As the policeman exited his squad car, the driver again pulled out license, registration and proof of insurance. She rolled down the window, “Yes?” “Evening ma’am. Where are you going? Where have you been?” “Well we went to Gatlinburg for a few days and now we are headed back home.” An official flashlight beam roamed through the interior of the van before the officer said, “Be safe.” “We will.” The driver rolled up her window, gave her companion a puzzled look and started the car. After crossing another county line, a third set of blue lights pierced the night. Bemused they shook their heads in disbelief, pulled over, took out the papers, rolled down the window and waited. “Evening ma’am. I noticed you were drinking. What are you drinking?” “A diet coke,” she said politely, “Would you like to have some? We have a six pack in the cooler.” “No ma’am.” But he did look inside the cooler and traced the flashlight beam around the interior of the vehicle before saying, “Take it easy.” “After that we just left the papers on the seat,” she said. As the clock moved toward 12, just as each reached for another diet Coke, a fourth set of blue lights flashed them to stop. Same questions, same paperwork only this time the officer brought a leashed dog from his vehicle. He led the dog around their van. The officer glanced at the papers, returned them and said, “Drive safely.” Dog and officer returned to their vehicle. They drove safely. They drove the speed limit. They kept track of the number of cars behind them. They arrived home around 2 a.m. After relating the night’s events to an acquaintance in the sheriff’s department, he told them, “You were profiled. It’s not supposed to be done, but you were older people, in a van traveling the highway in the middle of the night. They thought you might be running drugs.” No drugs found. No arrests made. No tickets written. But they did arrive home with a story that has entertained friends and family for many years.  26-23