The Web and More

getting taken

At 14 (a long time ago), I answered the phone. It was just after getting home from school. The man asked for my father, and he used his first name. I said he wasn't home and asked if he wanted to leave a message. He then asked, is your mom home? I told him no, she was out.

He asked if I could help him? Then, he told me he was from the alarm company and my father asked him for a quote to have an alarm installed in the house. He was in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by the house? He wanted to see how many windows and doors were in the house which needed to be wired. Otherwise, he would have to return in about three weeks when he was in the neighbourhood again.

I wasn't aware my Dad was installing an alarm. However, I didn't want to tell him he had to wait another three weeks to get the quote. You guessed it. I let him in the house! I watched while he measured the windows and doors. He made note of the measurements on his pad. Then, he left.

As an air-headed teen-ager, who forgot information quickly, I completely forgot to tell my dad until almost a week later. His jaw about hit the floor! I don't ever remember seeing him so angry or upset. My parents searched the house with a fine-toothed comb, yet nothing was missing. My parents called the police. However, since nothing was missing, and I hadn't been hurt, they said there wasn't nothing to be done. They did suggest my parents have an alarm installed.

A week passed and nothing happened. My mother figured the man was probably legitimate and simply had the wrong house. But, I had to remind her he asked for my dad, by name. That was why I trusted him. As my Dad pointed noted, I hadn't considered my Dad's first name was in the phone book!

My father (an ex-Major in the army) called both my brothers (big lads). They were both married. He asked them to help him to catch the robber(s). Each night, one of my brothers, or my dad, would wait all night, armed with my dad's shotgun. This lasted a full two weeks. My mother thought my dad was crazy. She begged him to stop!

So, it's three weeks to the day after getting the call. A man, who is dressed in all-black with a ski mask over his face, snuck in through the basement door. This was in the middle of the night. He did all this only to be met by my oldest brother, who was holding a shotgun in his face. My other brother's doberman pincer was waiting to rip the guy apart.

My Dad hog-tied him, in his Lazy Boy chair. Then, he called the police while my brother (an ex-policeman) held the gun, pointed at the robber. When the police arrived, my father got me up from a sound sleep. The police asked me to identify the man. Sure as day, it was the same guy I had let into the house three weeks earlier.

He went to jail and it taught me a very valuable lesson.

posted by Don Marchand @ 10:21 PM