Sunday, October 9, 2011

I got pranked.....

with the old "ring the doorbell and run" scenario. I was not amused.

It was Friday night and I was watching TV in my jammies. I was kicked back and relaxed after a hard day at work - the only light on in my house was light from the TV. It was late but not too late.....maybe 9:30 or so.

Suddenly my evening was disrupted by the ringing of my door bell....4 times rapidly....making it hard to distinguish whether it came from the front door or the back door. I checked the front door first......no one. Then checked the back door.....no one. Sliding glass door and the deck.....no one. Driveway.....no one.

Now, I've lived here for almost 40 years. Neighbors have come and gone but a lot of us have lived here for that long or longer. I have no teenagers that live close to me any more. This is a safe neighborhood and I've never been afraid. I have never been pranked before. But neighborhoods change over the years......sometimes not for the better.

I will admit that there have been times I have forgotten to lock my doors over night and have even left for the day and forgotten to lock them. My neighbors have done the same. But things change when different people move close by. I made a promise to myself that I will be more diligent about locking up.

After discovering "no one" at any of my doors and turning on porch lights and flood lights......I did become a bit concerned. I figured it was a prank, but there is always a little doubt in your mind that maybe something more sinister is at work. I called my grandson. I asked him if he had been here, by any chance....just clowning around. He said no, why? I told him. He became concerned. Within minutes he and his friends were here checking out my yard and then they retreated to an area where they could watch and sat there for about a half hour, just watching. Nothing was amiss and they didn't even see any gangs of kids. My grandson is grown and his friends are BIG. I was glad they had my back.

Now, although it did cause me some inconvenience and a little concern, I'm not really complaining. It was one of those "innocent" pranks.....nothing was taken, nothing was damaged. I didn't have the "bag of dog poo on fire" on my front porch. They just got a kick out of seeing the lights go on at each door I guess. I'm glad it took so little to amuse them. But my grandson and his friends will be watching from now to Halloween......and if the pranks get frequent or damaging, I would not want to be the prankster in this case.

On Halloween, our neighborhood is one of those that doesn't give out candy anymore.....the kids around here all go to church, school or private parties so they are not out on the streets after dark. I used to get a kick out of seeing all the costumes, but it really is much safer for them to just have a supervised party. Besides that, the last few years that kids were coming around, I was only getting bigger high school kids, not even in costume.....the little ones were celebrating in a safer environment.

I have been seriously thinking of getting another dog and so has my daughter. In the spring, maybe.....when housebreaking will be easier. We want bigger dogs, that will double as watch dogs, taken seriously. Her number one choice is a Rottweiler/English Lab mix.....that's what she had before and that dog was absolutely the best. Hopefully we can get two puppies.....sisters.

Of course I have not cleared it with Queen Abby yet......my rat terrier who basically dictates the goings on around here. She does not think she is a dog. She hates squirrels. She thinks cats are just squirrels without fuzzy tails. She does not like other dogs......so it could be interesting.

10 comments:

Mikey said...

I'm glad your grandson is there for you. He and his friends :) I hope it was just a harmless prank and you don't have any more trouble.
You could do like I've done. Just get 11 more Abby dogs. Only dog friendly people make it into my yard :)

THINGS YOU'D NEVER GUESS ABOUT ME said...

You don't need a big dog.

Just a big gun and any kind of yappy dog that will wake you up.

I just want to be woke up.....got it?

And the older I get, the harder I sleep. Hopefully it won't be the killer who wakes me up, cuz then I ain't got no chance.

But a yappy dog, a loaded gun by the bed: slip out of bed and lower your body and aim for the door.

Then after you kill him, call the cops in the morning after you get a good night's rest.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Wow, people have all kinds of approaches, don't they! I think even a small yappy dog can help if she reacts quickly and is loud enough. But if not, a well-trained guard dog might be just the thing. Meanwhile, I hope you have no more problems!

Leann said...

Kids will be kids but I'm glad your grandson and his friends had your back. Saturday night, bored kids, who knows where they came from.

I have to admit I used to be something of a prankster. Along with my friends of course. We used to make phone calls tho :-)

I've thought of getting a dog as well. Somehow I'm not sure my Tig Tig would appreciate it tho. :0) Have a Wonderful Sunday! Blessed be Val.

Linda@VS said...

I don't think pranks are nearly as funny as I used to think they were. I live in a semi-rural area, so the teen pranksters around here ride in cars, and their favorite thing to do is take out mailboxes with bats or big rocks. Not funny AT ALL! Like other commenters said, I'm glad your grandson is on the case.

As for the guard dog, my 80-pound puppy barks and growls like he's ferocious when he hears anyone outside, but he's totally submissive to my daughter's little Shih Tzu. If Abby's used to running things, she probably still would.

Mary said...

I'm glad the Grandson's got your back, that's neat! My neighborhood has evolved so much since I moved here. My next door neighbor and I are the only "originals" left. We try to watch each other back.

ain't for city gals said...

I would never be without a dog..a loyal watchdog...a Queensland Heeler is a great one...the most loyal I have ever seen. Our Molliedog would never ever let anyone in the house but alas..she is getting old..12 years...and her hearing is not the best...I want to bring in a puppy but don't think that would go over to well..soon though. It would be really hard with a puppy if you work all day I would think...most med to big dogs need lots of exercise.

dc said...

Oh, yes, I am with "ain't for city gals" Our last dog was a Qwueensland Red Heeler. She was bonded tight to us and quite protective. We still miss her so much. Had her for 12 years. Hubby says no more dogs, but one of these days he will think that maybe the dog will out live him and he won't have to go thru that loss again. Guess thats not really so funny, but true anyway. Good luck on the dog. Oh, and our heeler was a Molly too! We called her Hot to-Molly!

Anonymous said...

Those "pranks" aren't funny anymore-they were in the '60s but not now. Getting a big dog will make you feel more secure. I'm still sort of wishing I'd gone with a bigger dog, but we'll see.

Another thing you might do is get a porch light that's motion detected. It might discourage pranksters. You can get screw-in converters.

Forsythia said...

In the days before Caller ID, which we still don't have--but never mind--there used to be phone pranks:

"Is your refrigerator running?"

Me, assuming the call is from a neighbor who's lost power: "Yes, I'm sure it is."

"Well, you'd better catch it before it gets away."

Would any kid today even think of trying, "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"