A lawyer on vacation in the Tar Heel State runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a sheriff's deputy. He thinks that he is smarter than the deputy because he is a lawyer from New York and is certain that he has a better education than any cop from North Carolina. He decides to prove this to himself and have some fun at the North Carolina deputy's expense.

The deputy says, “License and registration, please.”

“What for?” asks the lawyer.

The deputy explains, “You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign.”

Then the lawyer responds, “I slowed down, and no one was coming.”

“You still didn't come to a complete stop,” Says the deputy. “License and registration, please.”

The lawyer asks, “What's the difference?”

“The difference is you have to come to complete stop, that's the law. License and registration, please!” the Deputy says.

The lawyer says, “If you can show me the legal difference between slow down and stop, I'll give you my license and registration and you give me the ticket. If not, you let me go and don't give me the ticket.”

“That sounds fair. Please exit your vehicle, sir,” the deputy says.

At this point, the deputy takes out his nightstick and starts beating the ever-loving $&!# out of the lawyer and says, “Do you want me to stop, or just slow down?”