Thursday, April 24, 2008

All Kinds Of Questions

Hi hon, what's up?

Huh?

Which kid? The middle one?

He sent you a text message?

From a police car?

From the back seat of a police car? Is he alright?

Huh?

Why were he and his friend walking home from school in the rain? Did the bus break down?

What do you mean, have I forgotten what he's like?

Some stranger stopped and offered them a ride? They didn't get in the car, did they?

Why'd the cop pick them up? You said the guy left, right?

Really? Somebody just happened to see the driver stop to talk to them and called the police? And then the cop gave them a ride home?

Are the boys kid freaked out?

Why am I not surprised they think it was exciting?

UPDATE: Here's the email I sent to the police chief last night.

Dear Chief _____,

My son and a friend decided to walk home Thursday afternoon from school after checking with parents that it was alright to do so. The two of them were making their way down the street when a car pulled over and the driver offered them a ride. I'm sure it was a well-meaning citizen who was only trying to help but both of them know better than to get in a stranger's car so they thanked him and refused. Apparently someone else saw the person pull over and talk to these two boys, got worried and called the police, and was routed to your department.

My son and his friend tell me that one of your officers was there within a minute or two. He asked them what happened, gave them a ride home, and congratulated them for making the right decision not to accept a ride from a stranger. Both boys later commented that he was a "really nice guy." Although I don't know the officer's name, my wife and I are grateful for his diligence and for his help in watching out for our son. Please accept our thanks and if you can, pass it along to the officer in question.

Sincerely,

Snag

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jesus X! Where do you guys live, some weird hybrid of the Hallmark, Lifetime, and ESPN Classic channels?

What in the WORLD?

Adorable Girlfriend said...

I once got offered a ride by some dude who asked me if I believed in god. My mother luckily showed up soon enough.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Just the other day, as I was walking into Riverside High School for my workout, a woman yelled at me out of her van which was double parked in the lot. She was here to pick up her daughter.

English was not her first language, and I didn't catch her daughters name clearly.

And she sent her two sons, about 3-5 years old, in with me. I assumed her daughter was in the earlier kids class, so I had the boys follow me into the lower gym.

Turns out, the daughter was in some other class. so we called the Rec director's office to locate the girl.

Can you imagine? She just sent her boys in with me, a total stranger she'd probably never seen before.

I mean, I was wearing my uniform, but I'm under no illusions as to the level of my appearance as trustworthy.

Amazing. Didn't ask them if they believed in Gawd though. Maybe that makes all the difference.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

And I second PP's comment. You oughta move somewhere SAFE, Snag, like the middle of Detroit or Baghdad.

fish said...

BP,

Was it this uniform?

Anonymous said...

Geez! And we were just talking about the puppy story.

What happened? Can you give us more details?

Adorable Girlfriend said...

Uniform? What uniform?

Jennifer said...

So the officer was a stranger???

Glad it all turned out ok.

Shannon Erin said...

That's funny, Jennifer. I thought the same thing when I read that story.

Kathleen said...

Snag is actually blogging from 1950. It's a weird time travel/internet thing. Coming soon to a theatre near you starring James Caviziel.

Speaking of ... whatever happened to that guy???

fish said...

That is a very different letter than the ones my parents wrote after getting me out of jail.