IWH: The Call

We were all very young. I was one of the youngest and I was about four years old. The oldest of the kids were ten and eleven years old. It was a typical day in the nursery for us. That meant there twenty to thirty kids being watched by one supervisor. We were outside playing in the yard and the day had been pretty uneventful up to that point. The older kids had gotten together and were playing games and the younger kids were roaming about playing with whatever captured their curiosity. After being outside for a while one of the older kids, one who was known for mischief making, asked our supervisor if he could go inside and use the bathroom. He was gone for a short while and returned without anyone paying much attention. Within ten minutes we heard sirens come screaming down the street, and much to everyone's surprise, two fire trucks pulled into our driveway. Firemen jumped out and came rushing around to the back of the house wanting to know from our supervisor where the fire was. The supervisor looked absolutely bewildered and asked the firemen what they were talking about. She wasn't aware of there being a fire. The kids all gaped at the firemen, jaws dropped and eyes as big as saucers. The head fireman informed her that they had received a call saying that the house was on fire and there were a bunch of kids inside who couldn't get out. The supervisor again said that she didn't know of any fire and that all the kids were outside with her. It soon became very clear to the firemen that there was no fire anywhere and someone had made a prank call to the department. Our supervisor seemed absolutely mortified and kept apologizing to the firemen. The firemen were not happy at all and had all the kids gather together. They asked who had made the call. No one said a word, no one came forward. There was a long pause as the firemen stared at the kids and the kids stared back. After a few moments, the head fireman broke the silence by informing us that making a prank call to the fire department was a criminal offense and we could get in a lot of trouble for doing something like that. He asked us if we all understood how serious the situation was and there was one giant nod from the group of kids. The firemen packed up their gear and headed out. Still shocked, the supervisor shuffled us inside and quickly got on the phone. The next thing we knew we were all bussed to the church and filed into the main sanctuary. We were lined up at the front. There were several elders and parents there and the pastor's wife, whom we referred to as "Grandma", was there as well. She wanted to talk to us. She sat on a bench in front of us and asked us one by one what had happened. No one seemed to know. She then told us that they had spoken with the fire department and the dispatcher had told them it was a child who had made the phone call. All the adults wanted to know who that child was. There was silence from the kids. Not one of us said a word. "Grandma" then informed us that the lead elder was going to go down to the station and listen to the recording of the phone call. He would then know who had made the call. She assured us that it would be better if whoever had called just came forward now because they would eventually be found out anyway. At this point one of the youngest of the kids began to tremble and he walked towards "Grandma" and with the most pathetic voice said, "Grandma, I din't call 1 1 9." "Grandma" laughed and said she was sure of that. Several of the adults were fighting the smiles that were creeping onto their faces. The little boys earnest plea was so innocent and somehow in the midst of a tense situation it breathed some relief. There never was a confession and the adults had to come to their own conclusions about who made the call. Amongst us kids we had some pretty good ideas about who had made that call, but we certainly weren't talking to anybody about it. This would be one of those days that went down in infamy at IWH.

The Return Of the Interesting Guy

I posted last year about a strange guy I saw on a street corner. He was wearing pink roller skates and ridiculous clothes. Well, I saw him again tonight, but this time he was on a pink bike! I was sitting outside a coffee shop with a friend tonight. We were enjoying the beautiful Tucson night and observing the traffic up and down the street. I saw this guy go riding by in a large, 1950's style bike. The guy had horn-rimmed white glasses that sat on his very gaunt face. His long black hair was slicked back in a severe pony-tail. He was wearing a brown 1960's style blazer and had on jeans that looked too tight and too short for him. Then I noticed that his bike was pink, Barbie pink. That's when it hit me, this was the same guy I had seen almost a year ago! I couldn't believe it. The last time I saw him he looked far more ridiculous, but he was still rather interesting this time around. I mentioned him to my friend and she looked over to see who I was talking about. She then informed me that she saw him rather often and she always thought he was so strange. I told her about the time I had seen him in pink roller skates and we laughed at the crazy things you see in Tucson. =D