I took my car to my mechanic yesterday and walked home, managing to stay positive and not give in to thoughts of despair. Back at home, I called Janelle. She had called me the day before, but I had not gotten back to her. We spoke for a while and I think the conversation, as is often the case with us, was mutually beneficial. After speaking with her, I felt a contentedness so pervasive I almost forgot about my car. Even when I did think about it, it was with a certainty that no matter the outcome, I'd get through it.
My mechanic called while I was on the phone with Janelle. I called him back. Turned out I needed new sensors, an oil change, and a couple of other things I can't articulate because I'm a neophyte as concerns car repair. A lot of money, but the car is fixed and I'm able to get around. That's the key thing. Everything else will sort itself out.
Everyone I dealt with yesterday, from my boss to my mechanic,was sympathetic to my plight, reassuring, and helpful. I felt such a sense of community that, despite having to shell out a large quantity of money, I was grateful having gone through it. I'm telling you, meditating has been helping manifest this type of experience. Been noticing a shift and I'm quite fond of it.
Another bit of good fortune today: I foiled a robbery. It was around eleven this morning and I was getting ready to walk over to the garage to pick up my car. As I was gathering my effects, I thought I heard someone knocking on the front door. My bedroom door was closed, so I couldn't be sure. I listened closely. I didn't hear anything further. Then I heard a noise that suggested someone was in the house. I wondered if it was Rick coming by to fix the faucet or perhaps it was Rae stopping by for lunch.
I went downstairs. No one was around and I didn't hear any more knocking. As an afterthought, I looked out one of the windows in the living room and saw someone I didn't recognize hanging out on our porch. I watched him for a few minutes. He sat down on one of the chairs and kept looking at his cellphone. He looked to be in his twenties, pretty clean cut, with a back pack. His phone looked to be a smart phone. I wasn't thinking burglar. I was, however, curious to know why he was hanging out on my porch.
I wondered if he was one of Fred's friends. Maybe they were going to meet up for lunch. Maybe he was a relative of Rick and Marie. Whatever his affiliation, my gut told me to stay put until this was resolved. He seemed a bit apprehensive, antsy. He got up and walked over to the window I was peering out of and started to open it.
He didn't see me, probably the only thing he saw was his reflection. The window was already halfway open, so getting in was not going to be much of a problem. The only impediment was me, watching this unfold not two feet away, incredulous. It was time to speak up.
"What are you doing?", I asked. Startled, the perp backed away from the window.
"Oh, hi, I was just knocking on your window - I already tried knocking on your door."
"You didn't knock on the window, you were trying to open it."
"Sir, I wasn't. I was just knocking. Me and my friends are doing some landscaping in the area and I was only coming by to see if you wanted some done."
" You weren't just knocking, though, were you? I was standing here watching you as you started to open the window."
"Sir, I wasn't. Like I said, I had already knocked on the door."
"And you thought if I didn't hear the knocking on the door, I'd hear you knocking on the window? Look, I'm not stupid, I saw what you were doing."
Let me interject at this point my demeanor. Once I became certain of his intent and the more I spoke with him, the more confident I felt. I wasn't terribly worried about my safety because I was inside my house and my ire was up over this guy's attempt at robbing us blind. Those two factors enabled me to control the situation. I had him against the ropes.
"Sir, it's not like that. I was just seeing if you wanted some landscaping done."
"You say you and your friends are working in the area. What street?"
"I can't remember, sir. Around here. Look, I don't want any trouble. I'll leave and never bother you again."
He walked away from the window and made for the street. There was a part of me that was fine with letting it end there. This guy tried to break into my place, I caught him before he could get started, he leaves and never comes back if he's got half a brain. Let's leave it at that. However....
This guy tried to rob us! What if he does this to someone else in the neighborhood? Why wouldn't he? If he's desperate enough to attempt to break into someone's house in broad daylight on a fairly active street, surely he'll do it somewhere else. No, I needed to let the police know.
"I think I'm going to call the police. I think we should let them handle this."
"Sir, you don't have to do that. I'll never come back. I promise. Like I said, I was just looking for work."
"No you weren't. You were going to rob us. I'm going to call the police."
He walked away, all the while pleading with me not to call the police. I didn't. Not right away. First, I knocked on Rick's door and explained to him what just happened. This action proved to kill a few birds with one stone. While I had him in the house, I showed him the leaky faucet we had just implored him to fix and the ceiling we've been after him to fix for ages. I also let him know I was going to be a few days late with rent, which he was very nice about. "Take your time. I know how tough it is for everyone these days."
After Rick left, I called the police. They showed up almost immediately. I gave them a thorough report and they said they were going drive around the area looking for him. They went on their way and I went on mine, to the garage to retrieve my vehicle.
So am I a hero? Well, of course not. I just did what any other person with a pure heart and heroic nature would do. It was an interesting experience, to say the least, and I'm glad everything worked out.
And did it ever. I gotta tell you, things have been lining up favorably lately. If my car hadn't been at the garage today, I would not have been home to stop the robbery. Or what if I had left to go get my car ten or fifteen minutes earlier? Or what if I had had waited to leave another five minutes? The perp would have by then made his way inside the house. Who knows how he would have acted if I surprised him while he was stuffing his backpack with loot. Things worked out well and I'm grateful. Believe it or not, I feel bad for this guy. Obviously, he's going through some tough times. He probably has a family that loves him, that worries over him. I hope, and I'm doubtful here, but I sincerely hope what happened today will scare him straight, or at least forces him to think about the way his life is going.
All in a day's work. There was more I was going to write about, but that will have to be for another time. I'm off to read from The Lost City of Z, which has been a phenomenal read, utterly engrossing.
Alright, time to move forth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment