Have you ever eaten kale chips? I mean, really, truly eaten them? I once baked up a batch of fresh kale chips Pinterest-style after reading raving reviews about them and promptly threw them in the trash after my kitchen ended up smelling like a giant dirty diaper.
But apparently, some people really do enjoy kale chips and 27-year-old Megan Ange, a newlywed from Kennesaw, Georgia, is just one of those people. Until, in a twist she never saw coming, Ange’s beloved kale chips almost landed her in some serious trouble with the law.
It all started when Ange skipped lunch at her job in medical research, leaving her starving and reaching for a snack on the way home.
“I recently became a fan of kale chips when I was in Washington state this summer,” Ange explains of her decision to eat the shriveled green snack product. “They had some at the local market and I was genuinely surprised at how good they were. This particular brand in Georgia was different from the ones I had over there, but just as good. I normally try not to eat in the car (it’s messy and can be distracting), but I had skipped lunch that day and couldn’t wait ’til I got home.”
In a Facebook post from last week, Ange described the harrowing experience that went down next: “Y’ALL. I got pulled over for eating a snack on my way home today,” she wrote. “Really truly seriously for realzies.”
Ange describes how she was “happily munching” away on a big ol’ delicious bag of Zesty Nacho Kale Chips while stopped at a stop light next to a police officer. (Side note: I will begrudge Ange that those sound decidedly more delicious than my DIY version.) Meeting the officer’s eyes, Ange continued her snacking, perhaps even thinking he may extend her some extra credit good citizen points for eating healthy.
“I only made eye contact with the officer briefly when I pulled up next to him,” Ange tells me. “I’ve always been a fan of our local police departments so I just nodded and then turned my attention to the snack in my passenger seat. Red light = hands free for snacks!!”
Instead, the officer looked her over, then immediately flipped on his siren lights. Ange quickly turned into the nearest gas station after the light had turned green and was shocked by what happened next.
“I actually initially thought I was being pulled over for my tail light being out (I really do need to get it replaced), so I didn’t think anything of it,” she says. “When he said, ‘Marijuana,’ though, I did panic a little. That’s why I offered to give him the bag so quickly.”
The police officer stepped up to the side of the car and without asking for her identification or offering any sort of greeting, he demanded to know what was in the bag.
“The smile I had prepared for him fades and I follow the direction of his eyes to the bag on my passenger seat. Uhh … nacho kale chips?”
The officer, however, wasn’t buying it. “Looks a lot like marijuana to me,” he replied.
Choking back a laugh, Ange notes that the officer was not amused, like at all, so she tried to diffuse the situation at hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to — I mean — who in the world — ? Ehem. Would you like to see the bag?” *keeping hands at 2 and 10 because mama didn’t raise no fool*
With one hand still on the wheel, I slowly grab the bag and pass it to him. He takes it and steps back. I kid you not, he smells it.
“Officer?”
“Hmm?”
“Taste one. You have my permission. They’re actually pretty goo— …”
“I believe you,” he says as he steps back up to the window and gives me the bag back. “Have a good day, ma’am. Sorry for the trouble.”
Ange, like the rest of us, found the mix-up pretty darn hilarious. There she was, just a girl sitting in front of a cop, asking him to taste her healthy, perfectly law-abiding kale chips.
“I’m. Freakin. DYING,” she wrote. “He sincerely thought I was just munching away at a bag of the marijuana. What in the actual hell? #ThatsWhatIGetForEatingHealthyFood #ChocolateWouldHaveNeverDoneThisToMe“
According to Ange, this isn’t the first crazy encounter she has had, and her husband Gerald wasn’t even surprised in the least at her latest antics.
“My husband thought it was hilarious!” she says. “I have had a lot of crazy things happen in my life, so he’s used to my stories. This one is one of his favorites so far.”
But the marijuana mix-up has left Ange sufficiently shaken to swear off the snacking for good. She says she will “never again” eat kale chips in the car.
“I actually flew out of town this weekend and hesitated when I went to put the chips in my carry-on bag,” she admits. “I decided to just be happy with the pretzels/nuts offered in-flight.”
Moral of the story, ladies and gentlemen? Stick to chocolate when you get the um, munchies, next time you’re in the car.