You have the right to remain silent...

Most of us are familiar with this popular police phrase, but most of us also never expect to hear it directed at us, or even come close to having it said to us. (If you have had it said to you or expect it to be said to you, I might need to re-evaluate our friendship)

Now Ryan, being an attorney, truly never expects to hear or come close to hearing this phrase said to him, but yesterday was an extremely close call.

Friday, he went into the court house for a hearing and sent his briefcase, etc through the metal detectors just as he does every other day. However this time, the guards monitoring the detector brought everything to an abrupt halt and escorted Ryan, and his briefcase, into the back room.

"Would you like to explain this?" asked the guard.
And so Ryan began to tell his story.....

It all started when he decided to get his car washed at the office that morning. He cleaned everything out of the truck so they could clean and vacuum inside. He took everything into his office and continued on with his work day.
When it was time to leave for his hearing at the court, he grabbed everything to put it back into his truck, as well as his files and briefcase for the hearing. His hands were full as he juggled everything out to the truck. In true Ryan fashion, he received a phone call on his way outside, in order to have a free hand to talk, he threw everything from his hands into the briefcase, including the pistol he often carries with him in his truck.
Mental Note.... take pistol out of briefcase before going into courthouse.

After 1 1/2 hours of questioning, background and gun registration checks, and a firm lecture on how serious this situation is and how he should be charged a felony, he was finally sent free to go to his hearing, which he was now extremely late for and had to explain to the judge why. (I would love to have been a fly on the wall in that courtroom)

Luckily, the judge happened to be a good friend of Ryan's and found the situation quite humorous. After the hearing, he even went with Ryan to get his gun out of custody from the guards, thinking it would make it a bit easier. Originally the guards wanted to escort Ryan as he took his gun to the truck, but Ryan talked them into putting it in the safe while he went to his hearing. He really didn't want to be later than he already was.

To today I'm thankful that Ryan didn't hear those famous words, "You have the right to remain silent" and that I didn't have to bail my husband out of jail yesterday, but mostly that Ryan was was able to laugh about the whole thing!