Very often Canadians get fascinated by truly American stories that could not happen here. They are sometimes amused or horrified. Here’s one that “did the trick” and was both.
In the late 60’s, when my oldest son was about six years old, we lived in a nice suburban neighborhood in suburban Baltimore County, Maryland.
The neighbor on the corner had an extremely manicured lawn. He worked on it, as did his wife, as if it were a full-time job. They used scissors!
I gathered later on that he was the target of several teen aged boys who had him in their sights. His lawn was just a great target.
He had a little fence around it, a decorative one, about 12” high made of white metal poles with white chains connecting them. His wife worked out there most days in a assortment of tube tops, and was the neighborhood pin up girl in an old girl sort of way. To add to this, he was the uncle of one of my friends, although they were not friendly people and I never had really spoken to him, but would wave hello when I came out.
One day my son and his friend, both six years old, walked down the street and stepped onto his lawn. That was all they had done. He ran out of his house with his son, who brought with him a rifle and pointed it at the boys and yelled at them to get off their lawn. The two boys did so, however they were scared to death!
I called the police, feeling that a conversation seemed one sided, because he surely would shoot me if I begged the question. I could have borrowed a handgun from either one of my next door neighbors who would have been happy to lend me one, or, in fact, been happy to just go over and shoot him!
The policeman was beside himself, and could hardly believe the story, but went over there assuming he probably wouldn’t open fire on an armed officer of the law.
He discussed the matter with the family, and came back to talk to us. He did explain the man’s dilemma with local kids, but it was pointed out that this might not have been a good solution, pulling a gun on two unarmed six year olds.
The gun turned out to be a bb rifle, so it would only wound them. However, he agreed to stop and seek a better solution.
Tomorrow I’ll post another gun story as it related to my younger son.
In the late 60’s, when my oldest son was about six years old, we lived in a nice suburban neighborhood in suburban Baltimore County, Maryland.
The neighbor on the corner had an extremely manicured lawn. He worked on it, as did his wife, as if it were a full-time job. They used scissors!
I gathered later on that he was the target of several teen aged boys who had him in their sights. His lawn was just a great target.
He had a little fence around it, a decorative one, about 12” high made of white metal poles with white chains connecting them. His wife worked out there most days in a assortment of tube tops, and was the neighborhood pin up girl in an old girl sort of way. To add to this, he was the uncle of one of my friends, although they were not friendly people and I never had really spoken to him, but would wave hello when I came out.
One day my son and his friend, both six years old, walked down the street and stepped onto his lawn. That was all they had done. He ran out of his house with his son, who brought with him a rifle and pointed it at the boys and yelled at them to get off their lawn. The two boys did so, however they were scared to death!
I called the police, feeling that a conversation seemed one sided, because he surely would shoot me if I begged the question. I could have borrowed a handgun from either one of my next door neighbors who would have been happy to lend me one, or, in fact, been happy to just go over and shoot him!
The policeman was beside himself, and could hardly believe the story, but went over there assuming he probably wouldn’t open fire on an armed officer of the law.
He discussed the matter with the family, and came back to talk to us. He did explain the man’s dilemma with local kids, but it was pointed out that this might not have been a good solution, pulling a gun on two unarmed six year olds.
The gun turned out to be a bb rifle, so it would only wound them. However, he agreed to stop and seek a better solution.
Tomorrow I’ll post another gun story as it related to my younger son.
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