Had to call the sheriff's department again. I picked up a pizza in town and drove past the school on the way back home. My headlights picked up a young boy sitting on the sidewalk, his knees pulled up to his chest and his nylon basketball shirt pulled over his legs. I stopped and soon found out he'd been there for two hours waiting to be picked up and didn't know his parent's or friend's phone numbers. Temp was in the 40's, he had no coat w/ him, and he was freezing. There was no place open in town except for the bars. Should have called the sheriff then and there and let the boy wait in my warm car. However, I hoped to save everyone a lot of problems and just take him home. It was 8 miles out of town and when I reached the house, no one was home, the house was locked and the boy didn't know another way in. Couldn't leave him back out in the cold, wasn't sure where his parents were, and they might already be calling the sheriff. So I got the sheriff's office on the phone. They said they would send out a deputy to the house to pick up the boy. I said I'd call them back if the parents showed up. I and the boy sat another 15 minutes talking about his cats and dog when his mother drove into the driveway. I put a quick call into the sheriff, the boy hopped out, and the mother came to the car proclaiming the boy was suppose to have called when basketball practice was done. I left, passing the deputy's car as he pulled into the driveway - I assume deciding to check up on the whole situation. Anyway, goes to show that at age 60, I still can make bad decisions.Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Sunset through the birches
Had to call the sheriff's department again. I picked up a pizza in town and drove past the school on the way back home. My headlights picked up a young boy sitting on the sidewalk, his knees pulled up to his chest and his nylon basketball shirt pulled over his legs. I stopped and soon found out he'd been there for two hours waiting to be picked up and didn't know his parent's or friend's phone numbers. Temp was in the 40's, he had no coat w/ him, and he was freezing. There was no place open in town except for the bars. Should have called the sheriff then and there and let the boy wait in my warm car. However, I hoped to save everyone a lot of problems and just take him home. It was 8 miles out of town and when I reached the house, no one was home, the house was locked and the boy didn't know another way in. Couldn't leave him back out in the cold, wasn't sure where his parents were, and they might already be calling the sheriff. So I got the sheriff's office on the phone. They said they would send out a deputy to the house to pick up the boy. I said I'd call them back if the parents showed up. I and the boy sat another 15 minutes talking about his cats and dog when his mother drove into the driveway. I put a quick call into the sheriff, the boy hopped out, and the mother came to the car proclaiming the boy was suppose to have called when basketball practice was done. I left, passing the deputy's car as he pulled into the driveway - I assume deciding to check up on the whole situation. Anyway, goes to show that at age 60, I still can make bad decisions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Not sure how you made a bad decision. You took care of a boy who needed help. Don't know if his mom was mad at you or not but in my opinion, she should be thanking you for making sure her son was okay and that you stayed with him until he was with the sherriff or with her. I say Kudos to you, Sue. :-)
Amazing that his mother really thought practice would last that long - compared to other ones. She should have been checking in with him a whole lot sooner. And cheers to you for not just driving by and leaving him alone.
cjb
"Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth,
yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good
and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now."
St. Theresa of Avila
Kim A.
Way to go Sue. It's the mother's action I would question. Why would she wait 2 hours before checking up on him. Probably not the first time she had to pick up her son, so wouldn't alarm bells go off if he hadn't called? She needs to give you a big THANKYOU.
Flip
I agree with the other comments. You did GOOD! Makes me wonder how the boy was supposed to call when he didn't know phone number. Maybe the mom had her own extracurricular activities. Some parental responsibilities lacking here.
Post a Comment