A really old post of mine, "It's the fuzz! Or is it???" has been getting a lot of traffic this week. I'm not sure why. Do people want to read about one of the dumbest things I've done? Or are people googling "the fuzz"??? Regardless, I've decided to re-post it. It took place this time of year, so the timing is appropriate. Here goes:
I was driving my girl home one night after a date. We were 18. Like me, she lived in a somewhat secluded area…no street lights and lots of room between houses. As I made the turn into her neighborhood, police lights started to flash behind us. I stopped.
The light from my brakes allowed me to get somewhat of a look at the car behind me. It didn't look like a police car—not even an unmarked one. I got suspicious, but wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to sit there and wait for a maniac to walk up to the car. I also didn’t want to drive off, leading that maniac to my GF's house—or have it appear I was running from the police. What to do??? I came up with an idea (a terrible one). Like my father, I kept a baseball bat (and tools, a snow shovel, a blanket, etc) in my car, just in case. You never know what you’ll need!!!
I grabbed the bat and told my GF to get in the driver’s seat, keep the doors locked, and keep an eye on me in the mirror. If it was not a policeman, she should drive someplace safe. (Why didn’t I just do that?) Anyway, I got out of the car and walked at an angle towards the middle of the road and back towards the “police” car. I didn’t want to get too close to it. Soon I could see there were three guys in the car, but not their faces.
Me: Is there a problem officer?
Guys in car: What are you doing with that bat?
Me: It depends if you’re policemen or not.
Guys in car: {lots of laughter}
Then they turned on the car’s interior light and I could see a friend sitting in the back seat. He was out with two guys (who had a flashing light for some reason???) and convinced them to play a little joke when he spotted my car. We chatted for a few minutes. Before I left I told them they were lucky my dad wasn't driving my car, he would have shot them. He would
NOT have done that, but I wanted to give them something to think about before they considered playing that potentially dangerous joke again.
Moral of the story: I got lucky. I never, never, NEVER should have gotten out of the car. I should have done what I wanted my GF to do—drive to a well lit, populated area. I hope none of you are ever in that position. But if you are, don’t get out of the car—even if you do have a baseball bat. =)