Getting To Know Your Neighbor
So many things have changed in our world over the past few decades. One of those is getting to know your neighbors. Back in "Mayberry" times people would bring a casserole or delicious treat to welcome you to the neighborhood or street. Now a days, most people keep their heads down, looking at their phones, and don't look up to say hello or welcome. Many times if you ask someone, "Do you know your neighbors?" They either haven't met them or have met them but don't remember who they are or their name.
This brings me to story time...We recently had a crazy incident happen close to home. A couple weeks ago I had to place a 911 call for my neighbors. I never thought I'd have to call 911 in my life.
I just started talking with my parents on FaceTime. They are currently serving an LDS mission in the Philippines so we usually talk in the evenings to catch up. This particular night we had started chatting about 8:45p. I received a phone call from my neighbor right then. I thought, "hmmm that's odd. I wonder why she would be calling at this time of night?" Our neighbors are retired folks that are in there late 50's early 60's and have no kids at home with them. I asked my parents to hang on while I took the call. My neighbor immediately started talking fast. "Hey Les, there's someone banging on our door and trying to get into our house! We don't know what is going on or who it is. I think he's trying to break into our home! My husband is holding the door so he can't get in! Oh my gosh he just started heading to the back of the house. Call 911! Please call 911!"
My heart started to race and I said, "I'm calling right now." We hung up quickly and I dialed 911. The operator picked up the call before the phone could finish it's first ring. While I was dialing the number I told Preston everything as fast as I could and then started talking with the operator. I relayed all of the information my neighbor told me and then gave the operator our address and gave them directions to which neighbor needed the help. I wasn't sure of their house number. Guess I never really paid attention to that detail.
As I was hanging up the phone Pres ran down stairs to make sure our doors were locked. He grabbed his golf club and was ready to protect his house and family in case anything crazy should arise. I was so impressed with how fast he thought to even do all of that. When I hung up the phone I immediately wanted to call or text my neighbor to let her know that help was on the way but I quickly realized that I was unsure of the situation. What if she had to hide? What if I put her in harms way just by making that call or text? I decided to wait for the police.
Within 2 minutes of hanging up with 911 the police were heading up the street. Such a relief! We opened our window to eaves drop...I mean, make sure everything was ok :) We heard loud banging on the door at our neighbors house and realized that was the man behind all of this. As the police drove up to the house they turned a bright light right on the culprit at the door. Two bear like policemen exited the car with hands on their holsters ready for action. I honestly felt like we were in an episode of COPS or some crime show haha. We could only hear muffled talking but were so grateful that the police were there and taking care of what ever the situation was at hand.
During this 5 minutes Mom and Dad were still on FaceTime with us. I figured if anything was to get crazy and the guy came our way they could yell at the bandit to get out and leave us alone. Haha. Luckily Pres had that golf club ready too. More witnesses for self defense right? :)
About 15 minutes went by and I received another phone call from my neighbor. She asked that we come down and talk to the police and see if we knew who the man was that was banging on their door. Pres and I hung up with Mom and Dad and went down to talk to the cops. We didn't recognize the individual at all but tried to help in any way we could. As we were talking to one of the big bear officers we noticed three more officers talking to the man sitting on the ground in a very confused state. Then out of no where we saw two more cops coming from around the corners of houses. They were like Navy Seals in the night. I have never felt more safe haha. Now I get why El Paso is ranked one of the safest cities in the country :)
This little thief in the night actually just ended up being extremely inebriated and lost. He couldn't remember where he was supposed to be going. He thought he was at his girlfriends house and was trying to get in. When the cops asked him for his ID he handed them his Costco card, haha. Clearly he had no idea what was going on or where he was. When they asked for an address, it was one that didn't exist.
We did all we could and said good night to the boys in blue and told them to knock on our door if we could be of any more help. My neighbor texted me later that night thanking me for all we did for them and gave me a quick update on the situation. We found out that the man's girlfriend just moved into a town home a few houses up from ours.
I texted my neighbor the following day to make sure she and her husband were ok and they said they were doing much better. Still a little shaken up from such an event but grateful they had us as neighbors to help.
What if we needed someone's help like this right away and our relatives or friends live far away? What if we needed someone to give our address to 911? Can we call someone that can give it without looking it up and wasting that time? Would someone have to ask more questions before they could place the call?
One of the things that has been lost from our day in age is getting to know our neighbors. Sharing contact information, talking with them, being friendly. We take cookies to these neighbors often and our neighbor is more than willing to watch our kids if I have a quick errand to run. We know each other, we trust each other, we are there for each other.
Get to know your neighbor! You never know if you may need that one person living next to you some day. I'm just grateful that in our situation everything was ok and our neighbor felt comfortable enough to have our name on speed dial.
This brings me to story time...We recently had a crazy incident happen close to home. A couple weeks ago I had to place a 911 call for my neighbors. I never thought I'd have to call 911 in my life.
I just started talking with my parents on FaceTime. They are currently serving an LDS mission in the Philippines so we usually talk in the evenings to catch up. This particular night we had started chatting about 8:45p. I received a phone call from my neighbor right then. I thought, "hmmm that's odd. I wonder why she would be calling at this time of night?" Our neighbors are retired folks that are in there late 50's early 60's and have no kids at home with them. I asked my parents to hang on while I took the call. My neighbor immediately started talking fast. "Hey Les, there's someone banging on our door and trying to get into our house! We don't know what is going on or who it is. I think he's trying to break into our home! My husband is holding the door so he can't get in! Oh my gosh he just started heading to the back of the house. Call 911! Please call 911!"
My heart started to race and I said, "I'm calling right now." We hung up quickly and I dialed 911. The operator picked up the call before the phone could finish it's first ring. While I was dialing the number I told Preston everything as fast as I could and then started talking with the operator. I relayed all of the information my neighbor told me and then gave the operator our address and gave them directions to which neighbor needed the help. I wasn't sure of their house number. Guess I never really paid attention to that detail.
As I was hanging up the phone Pres ran down stairs to make sure our doors were locked. He grabbed his golf club and was ready to protect his house and family in case anything crazy should arise. I was so impressed with how fast he thought to even do all of that. When I hung up the phone I immediately wanted to call or text my neighbor to let her know that help was on the way but I quickly realized that I was unsure of the situation. What if she had to hide? What if I put her in harms way just by making that call or text? I decided to wait for the police.
Within 2 minutes of hanging up with 911 the police were heading up the street. Such a relief! We opened our window to eaves drop...I mean, make sure everything was ok :) We heard loud banging on the door at our neighbors house and realized that was the man behind all of this. As the police drove up to the house they turned a bright light right on the culprit at the door. Two bear like policemen exited the car with hands on their holsters ready for action. I honestly felt like we were in an episode of COPS or some crime show haha. We could only hear muffled talking but were so grateful that the police were there and taking care of what ever the situation was at hand.
During this 5 minutes Mom and Dad were still on FaceTime with us. I figured if anything was to get crazy and the guy came our way they could yell at the bandit to get out and leave us alone. Haha. Luckily Pres had that golf club ready too. More witnesses for self defense right? :)
About 15 minutes went by and I received another phone call from my neighbor. She asked that we come down and talk to the police and see if we knew who the man was that was banging on their door. Pres and I hung up with Mom and Dad and went down to talk to the cops. We didn't recognize the individual at all but tried to help in any way we could. As we were talking to one of the big bear officers we noticed three more officers talking to the man sitting on the ground in a very confused state. Then out of no where we saw two more cops coming from around the corners of houses. They were like Navy Seals in the night. I have never felt more safe haha. Now I get why El Paso is ranked one of the safest cities in the country :)
This little thief in the night actually just ended up being extremely inebriated and lost. He couldn't remember where he was supposed to be going. He thought he was at his girlfriends house and was trying to get in. When the cops asked him for his ID he handed them his Costco card, haha. Clearly he had no idea what was going on or where he was. When they asked for an address, it was one that didn't exist.
We did all we could and said good night to the boys in blue and told them to knock on our door if we could be of any more help. My neighbor texted me later that night thanking me for all we did for them and gave me a quick update on the situation. We found out that the man's girlfriend just moved into a town home a few houses up from ours.
I texted my neighbor the following day to make sure she and her husband were ok and they said they were doing much better. Still a little shaken up from such an event but grateful they had us as neighbors to help.
What if we needed someone's help like this right away and our relatives or friends live far away? What if we needed someone to give our address to 911? Can we call someone that can give it without looking it up and wasting that time? Would someone have to ask more questions before they could place the call?
One of the things that has been lost from our day in age is getting to know our neighbors. Sharing contact information, talking with them, being friendly. We take cookies to these neighbors often and our neighbor is more than willing to watch our kids if I have a quick errand to run. We know each other, we trust each other, we are there for each other.
Get to know your neighbor! You never know if you may need that one person living next to you some day. I'm just grateful that in our situation everything was ok and our neighbor felt comfortable enough to have our name on speed dial.
