Posted: 8/17/2013 6:20:14 AM EDT
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So, I am lying in bed this morning hoping to enjoy an opportunity to sleep in on Saturday morning. At 7:19am I am awakened by my wife yelling “Don! Don! There is someone in our back yard!” (Our back yard is fenced-in.)
I jump up, run downstairs, and carefully creep out the patio doors to investigate. I don’t have my glasses on, but when I get about 4 steps onto the patio I clearly see a male figure about 6’4” 200+lbs, in a black t-shirt, lurking around the side of our house. In the back of my mind I know that my town recently had a couple home invasions, so I yell “YOU better get the f@ck out of my yard before you get shot!” (with intent to intimidate and scare him, I was unarmed) and I start to run back in the house to call the cops. I get half a step back when I finally connect the dots and realized that it is the son of one of my neighbors down the road, a friend. I turn back around to see the figure frozen like a statue. I am like, “<kids name>? Is that you?” Followed by a little mouse voice saying “Yes, Mr. Tallo, I’m sorry!” So, my wife made him breakfast while he and I had a little conversation. I explained to him that a 17-year-old kid looks like a full-grown man. I explained to him that there are a LOT of people who would have brought their guns outside with them, and whenever someone points a gun at someone else, there is always a significant risk of the pointee accidentally getting shot. I hope the kid learned a lesson this morning. I just figured I would share this account because as I was running down stairs, I seriously considered grabbing my shotgun. I just wanted to remind everyone to be mindful that the 10-year-old kid down the block that is “not quite right” will someday grow into a 17-year-old young man that is still “not quite right.” Or, the old man across the street may someday develop Alzheimer’s disease. Think first. Discipline is an important safeguard against tragedy. |
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Quoted:
Next time you should most definitely wear your glasses! Kinda like a hunter shooting at something moving in the bushes. Yes - You and EB reminded me, I've noticed a RX eye change even with correction and the "kid" next door towers me now. WEAR GLASSES if you must. In my back yard not so much of an issue, very very polite and proper kid. Do you know what he was doing in your yard? |
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The only answer I could get out of him when I asked was the teen-aged default answer to everything: "I don't know."
My money is on: chasing butterflies. That sounds like a joke, but he was hanging out in our butterfly/humming bird garden. I am not too close to the situation, so I don't know exactly what challenges he faces. All I know is that he is Einstein-smart in school but has the social skills of a 9-year-old. My wife knows his mother really well. She had a talk with his mother and she is not worried about why he was in the yard. Sometimes, a man's job is to just shake his head and roll with it. |
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Quoted:
Yes - You and EB reminded me, I've noticed a RX eye change even with correction and the "kid" next door towers me now. WEAR GLASSES if you must. In my back yard not so much of an issue, very very polite and proper kid. Do you know what he was doing in your yard? Quoted:
Quoted:
Next time you should most definitely wear your glasses! Kinda like a hunter shooting at something moving in the bushes. Yes - You and EB reminded me, I've noticed a RX eye change even with correction and the "kid" next door towers me now. WEAR GLASSES if you must. In my back yard not so much of an issue, very very polite and proper kid. Do you know what he was doing in your yard? He he he. 
Thanks, I was not sure how to respond to that one. Not wearing my glasses and taking a few seconds to recognize facial features is not even remotely analogous to shooting into moving bushes. 
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He he he.
Thanks, I was not sure how to respond to that one. Not wearing my glasses and taking a few seconds to recognize facial features is not even remotely analogous to shooting into moving bushes.
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Next time you should most definitely wear your glasses! Kinda like a hunter shooting at something moving in the bushes. Yes - You and EB reminded me, I've noticed a RX eye change even with correction and the "kid" next door towers me now. WEAR GLASSES if you must. In my back yard not so much of an issue, very very polite and proper kid. Do you know what he was doing in your yard? He he he.
Thanks, I was not sure how to respond to that one. Not wearing my glasses and taking a few seconds to recognize facial features is not even remotely analogous to shooting into moving bushes.
LOL- Hyper analogy.... Reminds me of a time I was up in a tree climb deer hunting. I have a GREAT overview of over grown bushes, and out of the corner of my eye left I see a deer enter the bushes. I could tell that something was moving through the bushes nothing more. Enter the picture from a right oblique was two hunters moving slowly into the buses from the other side, not sure it if they knew where I was (up 20 feet total HUNTER ORANGE), and if there was deer in those bushes. I wasn't even thinking of shooting as I only had a "doe" permit and no confirmation of my target. Shortly I didn't know if the moving bushes were now the hunter OR the DEER. MY ONLY FEAR? What if these guys shot at the deer and THAT happens to be my direction. Talk about "shitting a pickle"... |