Intervention via Observation

I had some fun yesterday and it happened so unexpectedly.

Taking a phone call with a notepad balanced in my lap, I notice the vintage Honda sputter into the lot. The teen-age driver anxiously examines the open parking spaces. I'm parked in a run-down strip mall parking lot that's got three times more spaces than customers. I can't believe how many times this kid has backed into a space only to pull out, circle around and pull into a different spot. I notice he has a young female passenger.

I watch him glide into a spot where the nose of his low-riding beater is nearly touching the rear bumper of red Ford wagon. The young man gets out of the old car and I'm surprised to see him wearing shorts so long I mistake them for ladies capri pants. He proceeds to pop the hood and balance it upon the support rod.

What happens next is bizarre. He kneels down between his jalopy and the station wagon. I hear the passenger door creak open and his lady friend emerges. She stands beside his kneeling form between the two cars. I grab my phone and begin to snap pictures of the young driver attempting to unscrew the license plates on the Ford.

He sees me, realization washing over his face and he abandons his task. He mutters something to the girl and they re-enter the car. In seconds they're slipping out of the spot and further into the parking lot. I call the local police and report the plates of both vehicles. They take my name and number. I hang up and then start cruising the rest of the lot.

I find them again near the grocery store. Same setup as before. His hood is up and he's kneeling between the cars. I call the police back and update their coordinates. I inform them that I'm driving away from that location. I don't want to be the cause for them to leave. I drive to the other side of the lot, park  and go to work for a bit. When dispatch doesn't call back or ask for more details I get curious. I hope back in the car and cruise down by the grocery store and see the wrecker, slowly dragging the offender's car onto a flatbed. I see the outline of the young man's head in the back of the police cruiser. The three police offers shared some laughs and then each walked to their own vehicle.

Apparently Mr. Short Pants had some unpaid parking tickets or something of that sort that made him a welcome guest at the station house. Ah, the tale of the amateur. He should have done his homework before attempting to commit a crime. He wanted to steal license plates so he could commit a different crime using that piece of junk car. If the vehicle was spotted they'd never find him.

I felt pretty good about my little intervention for two reasons. 1. A crime (though I can't define it) never happened because I'm observant and I followed through. 2. The guy who almost lost his license plate is a customer of my company. He'll never know what almost happened but that's OK. I read that the best leaders toil away in obscurity before ever gaining any notoriety. A truer statement there's never been! I've been working in the trenches for a long time and while it's rewarding down here, it's pretty quiet, too. Fine by me. As long as those I serve find value in my effort, that's all that matters.

Running out of time this morning. Lunch pail, check. Shovel, check. Uniform, check. See you in the trenches!