It happened up in the middle of the night. For those of you who are significantly younger than I am or are significantly more urban than I am, “up in the middle of the night” is the time period somewhere between about 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. In other words, it is the time that most decent folks are asleep. I was.
I came wide awake somewhere around midnight. I lay there for a few minutes wondering why I was awake. It was way too early to get up, and I was way too young to need to. Then I heard a noise. It was not a familiar noise, but it was a noise, nevertheless. It was one of those noises that if it happened to you up in the middle of the night, your heart rate would pick up a bit as would your breathing.
I rolled over in bed and lay there waiting to see if I could hear anything else. I did. Something was going on right outside of the apartment I was staying in.
So, I pulled the window shade up to see if I could find out what the noise was. I was living on the top floor of a garage apartment (let the reader understand). So, I had a pretty good view.
I looked down at my pickup, and there he was. Not only did I see him, but when I did, he was reaching over into the back of my truck trying to grab something. Next thing I knew, he was pulling my jumper cables out of the bed of my truck.
I know some of you are thinking that I probably drive a Ford. What other reason would I have to keep jumper cables in my truck? You are perfectly right. But the jumper cables were not for my Ford. I keep jumper cables in my Ford truck so that I can help get all of the Chevrolets and GMCs started. I’m just that sort of guy.
When I saw the guy grabbing my jumper cables, I did what any red-blooded American male would do. I yelled, “Hey, put those down!”
I was immediately shocked by how loud my voice was. Then it dawned on me that the window I was looking out of was closed.
So, I mumbled a bit as I struggled to raise the window. Once I got the window up, I again yelled, “Hey, put those down!” I decided there was no need to change the message.
This time my voice obviously startled the guy who was grabbing my jumper cables. He looked up toward the sound of my voice and stared for a minute. He then put his fore finger up to his lips and let out the loudest “Shssss” I have ever heard. Then he said, “You need to quit yelling. You are going to wake everybody up.”
I got out of bed, got to the front door, and started down the stairs when I saw the guy staggering off down the street without my jumper cables. I felt somewhat manly for resolving this little crisis. And I hoped he would spread the word around town not to mess with my stuff. I figured if the Chevrolet and GMC owners got wind of what this guy was trying to do, they would take care of it. After all, you would never know when they might need a jump.
Here are a couple of things to consider. First, seldom does any good thing happen up in the middle of the night. Second, if you get things out, put them up. Jumper cables in the back of my truck were just too big of a temptation. Third, you know you are being too rowdy when a potential thief calls you out for being too loud. Fourth, sometimes the best thing you can do is roll over and go back to sleep. Most things will wait until morning.
