They're Just Doin' Their Job

Image by conner395 via Flickr

I've been on the road in Ohio the last several days, attending my brother's wedding in Cleveland on Saturday.

The number of state troopers on Ohio's highways never ceases to amaze me. Yes, it's Labor Day weekend, the last hurrah of summer, and I'm sure they're on the lookout for drunk drivers and speeders, but I've long been convinced my home state has more troopers per capita than any state I've driven in. They're everywhere!

It reminds of the time I was taking Paul Brandt, who has gone on to become quite the star in Canada, on radio tour. We were sailing north from Cincinnati to Dayton on I-75 when I was pulled over by a state trooper for not properly signaling when I changed lanes.

The trooper asked all the standard questions: "Do you know why I pulled you over?" "Where are you from?" "What is the purpose of your travel?" When he got to the last question, I told I worked for Warner Bros. Records and was taking Paul to visit K99 in Dayton. He hadn't heard of Paul, of course, but he did know the station in Dayton.

After going back to his car to run my license and registration, the trooper returned, this time on the passenger side. When Paul rolled down the window, the trooper tossed my license back in the car and pushed his clipboard in the window toward Paul. "Can I get your autograph?" Paul quickly obliged, adding a line from a Junior Brown song of the day to the grateful trooper: "I'm just a-doin'my job, I'm the highway patrol."