something to watch out for

[karder]

I witnessed something odd this weekend, but I have been slammed so I have not had time to post anything before now. I am curious as to what you all think.

I have a friend who sells and installs entertainment systems and I do some work on the side helping him when he has big projects. This last week we were installing a very nice system for a lady who was getting it as a Christmas present for her husband, who was out of town. We get there in the morning, and meet the lady and check out the home. She asks us if we care if she leaves for awhile to do some shopping (rather trusting considering she has known us for about 20 minutes) so she takes off and leaves me, my friend, and a young guy who is his regular helper.

We get to work and make great time. Turns out the house has all concrete walls, so we send the young guy (Zach) to the hardware store for some different anchors. He takes the truck and leaves us there with no vehicles outside.

A bit later, the lady comes home with some packages. Just a couple of seconds after she closes the door, someone taps on it. This struck me as odd and my spidey senses tingled. My friend also thought it was strange and approached the door right behind the lady, who seemed very casual about it.

She opens the door, and I hear a kid say "do you have some dollars?" and a boy about 14-15 just steps inside! The kid sees me and then my friend about 3 feet behind the lady but just around the corner, and the kid jumps back outside. To paint the picture, my friend is one of my riding buddies and he is a hardcore Harley rider, who sports in his Harley wear 24/7. He is about 6'0, 230lb, long hair, beard, Harley T-shirt, Harley boots, bandana, jeans and wallet with chain combo. No, he wasn't riding that day, it is just the way he dresses. To top off the "look" he was holding a drill with a 12" bit as we were about to set the TV mounts, and he was not wearing his smiley face if you know what I mean.

The lady, who was a bit surprised, says "excuse me?" The kid, who was really startled, stumbles and stammers "huh...do you have a dollar for bus?" The lady tells him no.

I have walked over to the door by this time and the kid is sprinting down the driveway leaving with two other boys on his tail and a fourth standing across the street at the corner, clearly being a look out.

It looked to me like these kids saw that lady go in with some gifts and were going to try to dash in and grab something. They did not expect the crazy looking biker holding a drill, so they changed their plans fast. I told the lady she needed to call the cops and report them, but she was certain the boy was just rude and did not mean harm. Granted, she also let three guys she had never met have full access to her home for about 4 hours while she shopped, so I would not put her in the suspicious category.

I wonder how far those boys would have gone if she had been alone. I was really taken back by how young they were. I can't imagine any of them were older than 15. Am I being overly suspicious? My friend's comment was "maybe they're just idiots", but it certainly smelled funny to me.

[n5wd]

... I can't imagine any of them were older than 15. Am I being overly suspicious?

In Dallas a couple of weeks ago, four barely teenaged kids (12 and 14) have been arrested for murder - they attempted to rob a 19-year old kid with disabilities and pushed the older teen in front of a DART transit train, which dragged him between the train and the retaining wall for 50 yards, killing him.

Some of these kids, today, are really very dangerous - they have no fear, they believe they are invincible, and besides, they reason, they're juveniles so if they do get caught, nothing's going to happen.

[speedsix]

...age has little to do with childhood these days...nine-year-olds do horrible things...you just don't trust anyone anymore till you know them well...then you watch 'em...

[PBratton]

It has nothing to do with age, it's the environment they are exposed to... If the adults in their lives do not do their jobs the child will not learn values.

[Middle Age Russ]

Kids pick up values from the perceived authority figures around them. If the parents and other familial support don't provide them, the will pick them up from others. It is always good to remember that nature abhors a vacuum.

"Spidey Sense" or tingling hairs on the back of your neck are valid warning signs. It could very well save your life or the lives of those around you to remember that. I think you were spot on in recognizing a potential threat.

[VMI77]

they reason..... they're juveniles so if they do get caught, nothing's going to happen.

And they're right.