Stop or Slow Down

I got this from Frank, a Navy veteran, in an email:

I was out driving the other day, coming back from a nice walk in the park with Clyde. I’ve been having problems with the clutch on my truck lately, so rather than come to a complete stop at an intersection near the park, I rolled through it. You know … a California stop. Anyway, as luck with have it, a police car was parked nearby and he pulled me over. After handing over my license and registration, he proceeded to lecture me on the evils of rolling through stop signs. “Jeez” I thought, “Just give me the darn ticket so I can leave.” 10 minutes into his lecture and my patience was wearing thin. So I say, “Look. I slowed down. There was no traffic coming. No harm done. Besides, let’s get serious. Stop. Slow down. What’s the difference?” At which point, he looked at me, pulled out his nightstick and started pummeling me about the head, saying “Now tell me. Do you want me to stop … or to slow down?”