A tip of the cap and a big thank you to all the police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers, doctors, nurses, truckers, and city/town workers who find themselves working on Christmas Day and throughout the Christmas week. It’s not easy being away from family but these people go to work regardless of what’s happening to ensure the rest of us have a peaceful, worry free break.

One officer in Florida has taken a rather unorthodox approach to pulling over speeders in Florida during the Christmas season. Lou Caputo is known as the “Grinch Cop” not because he’s miserable or mean, but because he dresses up as the Grinch to encourage people not to speed in school zones. For the past 20 years he’s pulled people over dressed as a Grinch and offers school zone speeders a choice; receive a ticket for speeding or get an onion.

It was the Jim Carrey movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” that inspired Caputo to dress as the creature that despises Christmas and steals presents from residents of Whoville. Eventually, with the help of a young girl, the Grinch develops his love of the Christmas season.

So far in 20 years of doing this, Caputo says nobody has chosen the ticket over the onion. After receiving the onion, the Florida Key’s officer reminds the offender to slow down in school zones, especially during the Christmas season.

Just imagine what his squad car must smell like in that Florida heat!