Sunday, January 25, 2009

Why is it that's it's always when he's on call???

Some say I'm a baby, maybe a scaredy-cat...but I hate it when Chris is on call! I have to force myself not to watch any TV whenever these days come, because late at night all they play are CSI-type shows, and I really freak myself out before bedtime. As it is, I sleep with my cell phone in the bed with me so I can grab it quickly - just in case. Tonight, as I was driving home, there were two police cars that had pulled one vehicle over on my road. I don't live on a main road. I'm back in a neighborhood. Police cars really don't frequent our road for any reason...so why would they be pulling one car over with multiple vehicles. Okay, Okay, I know - it's really not that big of deal...they're just police cars...at least they're keeping us safe, right? It's 4:30 in the morning right now. Never before have I had anything like this happen, and of course, they only visit when Chris is away. I was just awoken by my doorbell ringing twice and someone pounding on the door. I laid in bed for a little while, thinking there was no way I was answering the door, but by the pounding, I thought perhaps there was an emergency and a neighbor needed assistance or something, so I threw on my robe and ran to the door. I looked out the peep hole and saw a single bright light shining in my eyes, so I hollered through the door, "Who is it??" I felt like my neighbors who at Christmas time would not open the door for our family who was merely delivering Christmas cookies before knowing who it was, which often necessitated a conversation through a closed door. How unneighborly and unfriendly! Well, I was greeted with "The Sherriff's Office, ma'am." He was shining a flashlight towards the door, so I couldn't see anything. I turned the outside light on and saw that it was indeed a police officer and I could see his car behind him. So I had Emma Lou with me, opened the door a crack to verify, and sure enough, a gruff looking man was standing there. I must admit, I was shaking. Why did the Sherriff's office need to knock on my door at 4:30 in the morning? Was something wrong?? Was Chris okay? He began barraging me with questions about my neighbors - who are they, how well do you know them, what is the make and model of their vehicles, how many children do they have and what are their ages, do I know if they're out of town, and do I have any way of getting ahold of them? Well, I do know my neighbors by name. I have talked with them on several occassions and really find myself enjoying their company. But we're not great friends, nor have we ever exchanged information. I'd never even thought about it. Perhaps it's a good idea for us all to exchange such pertinent information in case of an emergency. So after all the questions, he left. I came to the computer, still shaking, thinking that I needed to kill some time before going back to bed, because I was too key-ed up. Minutes later, there's another knock at the door. Another round of questions by another police man. And they told me they might be back again. I can't help but wonder what is going on outside. There are lots of police cars, lots of flashing lights, and while I was talking with both officers, I could hear their radios going off like crazy! But you'd better believe, there's no way I'm going outside to see. Evidentally, my neighbors are not home, so it makes me wonder - robbery??? fire??? what in the world??? Why do they need to know if their son who goes to college lives at home, or away? Is everything okay? But I think I'll wait for Chris to come home, and I guess I'll ask my neighbors myself. I certainly didn't feel like it was my place to ask the police officers to explain the situation to little-old-me. So here I am - 4:30 in the morning, wide awake, praying for my neighbors and wishing that my Chris were here in situations like these!!! ***01/25/09 Update*** I called the non-emergency number for the sheriff's office this evening after talking with my "neighbors in question" who were home the whole time and were unaware of any strange events...the police never even knocked on their door! It seemed to me that the police would not knock on my door so persistently at 4:30 in the morning unless it were an emergency, so I found it all very bizarre. After talking with the dispatcher on the phone this evening, she informed me that there was a window open at their house, and someone had called about a suspicious vehicle in their driveway. It happened to be my neighbor's personal truck. Not sure why the concern, or why they bothered me at 4:30 in the morning, but the mystery is solved...no emergency afterall. Hopefully next time they'll wait until a decent hour to wake the neighbors up. Or at least ring the doorbell of the house in question first!

1 comment:

Becky Carter said...

Sara- you are totally normal in your fear of being without Chris! I am the EXACT same way, probably more hyper about it when ever Todd has to be gone. He is leaving tomorrow morning for 3 days for Chicago and I am dreading it! It is scary having to worry about things that your husband usually does! You are not alone, girl!