ON LAW:

I was driving on Friday night, after our improv show, and got pulled over by some Rhode Island state troopers. After they took my license and registration, the one at my window told me my eyes looked red. I expressed surprise at this fact. Some would say that the reasons my eyes seem red is because you're shining your flashlight directly in them, sir.

They asked me to get out of the car and I had to do a sobriety test. Me, the person who has NEVER HAD ALCOHOL IN HIS LIFE. I passed the "track the pen with your eyes" test (with flying colors, one would hope) and sat back down. As my friends and I sat in the car and quietly discussed the situation, one astutely pointed out that there was less to worry about "when you know you haven't done anything wrong." At that point, I was still trying to figure out why I had been pulled over.

The cop came back and returned my license and registration. He said there was something wrong with my headlight and that I should get it fixed. I assured him I would and headed off to continue my Halloween fun.

Here's what sticks in my craw. There is nothing wrong with my headlights. I was the victim of a random traffic stop. Or they saw my astute friend drinking a can of Coca-Cola in the back seat and assumed the worst. I don't know. But it makes me question the law, and police in general, when something like this happens to me. Maybe I've just been naive to believe (that rhymes) that the police wouldn't do anything. Through the course of my job, I've seen officers escalate situations that didn't need to be escalated, and I worry that could happen to me.

I'm just glad they didn't find the body in the trunk.