Today’s service was wonderful. The sermon was uplifting, and I left the church with a sense of peace.

But on my way back, just a few kilometers before I reach home, things took a different turn. Out of nowhere, a Toyota Hilux suddenly stopped in front of me, and a couple of men in police uniforms jumped out, waving me down.

It caught me off guard for a moment, but I’ve been through enough of these situations to know the drill. Normally, the officers would ask for your car papers and driver’s license, and if everything is up to date, they’d let you go without much fuss — 70% of the time, at least.

So I pulled over, confidently handed over my documents, and prepared for the usual routine.

The officer glanced through the papers. “Do you know your papers expired on the 17th of October?” he asked, looking at me intently. That’s when it hit me — I had received a notification several days ago that my car papers were about to expire. I had completely forgotten that they had, in fact, expired three days ago. I realized I was now in for a much longer conversation, one that I definitely wasn’t prepared for.

Sometimes, these officers will frustrate you even when you’re not at fault and have all your documents in order, let alone when you’re clearly at fault. Maybe one day I’ll tell some of the harrowing stories from my encounters with the police.

Long story short, after a lot of back-and-forth, with the officers trying to intimidate me with their guns and make the situation seem far worse than it was, they let me go this time. But not without me “Droping something”.