Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDXXIII

First I'll tell you what happened, then I'd like to list some of my own observations about the entire episode. A couple weeks ago I was out of town on business. I had a room on the first floor of the hotel, and I had gone to bed about 9:30, my usual time. As a frequent traveler, I typically get some of my best sleep in hotels, and this night was no exception....at least for the first twenty minutes or so. When events started to unfold, I was in a deep sleep, dreaming about trying to help my Uncle Tab (whoever he is) install a helicopter propeller on his laptop computer. At the same time that dream was occurring, however, some very real events were happening right outside my hotel window, less than fifteen feet from where I was in my state of slumber, completely oblivious to the world outside. Two young working men from Joplin, Missouri had just parked their truck in the back parking lot at the hotel, so they were eye witnesses, and later relayed to me everything that transpired before I, too, became a witness. A young male guest at the hotel was having a difference of opinion with a young female, and they ended up carrying their dispute into the back parking lot. She got in her car to leave, and he jumped into his small pickup truck and blocked her way, preventing her from leaving. She wasn't giving up, but each time she would move her car, he quickly maneuvered his truck around to block her. At one point she thought she saw an opening, and she gunned it, just as he pulled in behind her, resulting in her crashing into the side of his vehicle. This was her chance, or so she thought. Just as she started moving again, he put the pedal to the metal and slammed into the side of her car. (Just a few feet away, Uncle Tab and I were still frantically working on that propeller. I'm a sound sleeper.) At some point during all this madness, she had called her dad and told him she was in trouble and feared for her life. Dad must've lived pretty close, because in a very short period of time, he drove up and jumped out of his truck, pointing a pistol directly at the head of his daughter's tormentor. That's when the young man decided it was time to depart the premises. He threw his truck in reverse and stomped the gas. BAM!!! That's when I woke up, with emphasis on the word "UP." I levitated!! It felt like I rose at least three feet out of my bed. In his haste to escape, the young villain had backed into the side of the hotel, striking the building literally less than ten feet from....ME!!! It put a crack in the side of that three story building from the ground all the way to the roof. Three seconds later he had vanished around the corner of the building, hopefully out of my life forever. MY OBSERVATIONS 1) If I had been that dad, I think I would've done the same thing he did. I'm a mild-mannered man until my kids are in trouble. 2) Also, if I was that dad, when I got my daughter home, she would've had a lot of "splainin'" to do! 3) One more point about if I was that dad: Regardless of what my daughter had been doing, or how many times something like that had happened, all she would have to do is call, and I would come running, and I would deal with her after I knew she was safe. 4) I'm thankful for the sheltered life I've lived, and for the fact that that style of living is so foreign to me. 5) I need to make sure I thank God every day for the fact that my kids have turned out to be the kind of adults they are. 6) Even with all the excitement, I was sound asleep again in less than two hours. Sleepless nights are rare occurrences for me. 7) If I'm gonna be the kind of Christian I say I want to be, I need to pray for both that young woman and the young man, as well as their families. God loves them. So should I. 8) That hotel is the type of place where women business travelers stay alone and feel safe....it's not a sleaze-bag joint. Events like that can happen anywhere at any time. 9) I will go back to that hotel again. I've stayed there many times without incident, as I'm sure I will again. 10) When staying in a hotel, a person should always wear some type of sleeping attire. What if I wouldn't have been, and that little truck had crashed through my window, into my room. Not a pretty sight. 11) We never did get that propeller installed on that computer. Preston