9-1-1- What is Your Emergency?

Well, I called 9-1-1 last night. I didn't want to do it and waited a little while before doing so, but my sense of being a "good neighbor" kicked in and knew I should just pick up the phone and make the call -- even if it didn't really pan out to be something major.

You see, last night while I was playing Wii Sports with my son in the living room, I noticed a well dressed man walking down the street. He went to my neighbor's door, rang the bell, and after a few seconds walked away. I figured he was a friend of his. But then, the man didn't walk back up the hill to where I assumed he parked his car. Instead, he proceeded to another home (that had no car in the driveway) and rang that bell. Same scenario, up and down the block ringing random bells. The side of me that wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt figured he was selling something, but he didn't carry any notepad, and he wasn't wearing an ID badge. So, the don't let your guard down/city girl in me knew that he was likely scoping out the neighborhood to see who is home and who is not. It was just odd.

So, he continued to wander around the community from what I could gather from my front window. There is only one way into our community and one way out. THEN.... he walked out of our community (at this point I was spying on him from my back sliding door). It was obvious that he did not drive into our community, he was dropped off. That put me over the edge... Next thing you know I'm on the phone with 9-1-1 giving them the details. As I'm talking to them, the guy walks back into our community again and starts ringing more bells. (Mind you.. he never rang my bell because my car was in the driveway). Then, he walks out of the community again and proceeds to sit down at the corner and just wait... At this point the dispatcher puts me on hold, and when she gets back on the phone tells me that the police are aware of this guy (apparently another concerned neighbor or two has also called in) and not a minute later, I see a patrol car pull up and approach the guy.

By this point, my little guy is more concerned about being allowed out on the deck to blow some bubbles, and I'm trying to keep him inside -- as if opening my door would somehow signal to this guy that I was the one who placed the call to the cops.

As it turns out, he was trying to sell magazines and there were a total of 5 guys that had been dispatched from a shady white van into neighboring communities. The cops gathered them all up, more cop cars showed up and after much discussion, etc. the scene finally breaks up about 20 minutes later. No arrests. But total peace of mind on my behalf. I'd certainly want my neighbor to call the cops if something didn't seem right in the neighborhood.

Nothing like a little real life drama before bed.