A few weeks ago I was cruising down the road in my minivan. I had just been at Trader Joe's and had bought a box of JoJos (not the peppermint kind, just the regular kind). The sun was shining, my mom had the kids and I was eating JoJos straight from the box because it was December and there are no diets in December. There was another car driving right beside me. I kind of hate that. Either be a bit ahead of me or a bit behind me. Right beside me is creepy and invasive, especially when I am wearing an embarrassing amount of JoJo dust on my shirt. So I was already a little riled up when we rounded a bend in the road and was startled to discover a kid standing in my lane.
Not walking. Standing. Just standing there. In the middle of a busy road.
The other driver and I both slammed on our brakes. The kid mosied slowly over to the sidewalk where another kid was sitting there. Just sitting there. We continued driving. I looked in my rearview in time to see the kid walk back out into the street and stand in the lane again.
These kids were up to no good.
I made the next available U-turn and watched him dodge another car. Oh I see. Funny guy playing a funny game.
I made another U-turn and drove back towards the kids. This time I stopped the car and got out.
Me: What are you guys doing?
Kid: Nothing. *mumble,mumble* *dirty look* *bad attitude*
Me: Huh. Well does your mother know you are standing in the middle of a busy street for no good reason?
Kid:*More mumbling, more attitude* She lets me go where I want.
Me: *whipping out cell phone* Well should we call her and ask specifically if standing in the middle of a busy road is okay? Because I just can't see that.
Kid: I can be where I want. Its not illegal.
Me: No, no I think it might actually be illegal. I think it might be jaywalking. But hey, we can call a cop and ask about that for sure?
Kid: I don't care. *acting all tough for being maybe 10 or 11 years old*
Me: *thought the cop comment would have scared them off and let me get back to the JoJos, damn it* All righty, we'll call the cops then. Just to be sure.
And so I do call the cops. To my astonishment the kids stayed right where they were the whole time. Brave little hoodlums. Cop must have been nearby because he showed up in minutes. I gave him my name, number and a quick recap. Then I told him I had frozen food in the van so I had to be going. My duty here was done. There will be no pre-teen fun on my watch.
You = My Hero
Posted by: Jason | January 08, 2010 at 12:32 PM