Two Kids and a Wagon...

Yesterday morning around 12:30 A.M. I had gone outside on the front porch for a few minutes. I looked out into the back yard and I saw two young boys walking through the yard. One of them was carrying a RadioFlyer wagon and the other was walking beside him. The wagon was bigger than the kid carrying it and he seemed to be having a difficult time.

Immediately, I shined my 3-watt LED Mag-Lite at them and yelled, "HEY!, WHAT ARE YOU BOYS DOING!!!" Of course this scared them half-to-death because for one thing this light is extremely bright, and for another thing, they knew what they were doing was wrong. By the time I had shined the light, they were already about to throw the wagon over the fence. Anyway, they stopped in their tracks as I began walking toward them, they knew they were caught. When I got over to them, I looked at them both. One was a scrawny little blond-headed kid, and the other a slightly bigger dark-headed kid. Neither one of them could have been a day older than 12 years or so.

As I stood there looking at them, I couldn't help but wonder what two 12-year-olds would be doing out of their houses at 12:30 A.M. on a Tuesday morning. Then I thought to myself that in a way it kind of reminded me of me when I was a boy. The only difference was that me and my best friend never stole from people, but we did wander around aimlessly for hours at night, at least during summer vacation anyway.

I looked at the old wagon, all rusted and about to fall apart, and then at the building it came out of which is also falling apart, and then I looked at them and I said, "Where did you boys get that wagon?" They both stood there in silence and stared at the ground, so I said, "You got it out of that old building right there, didn't you?" One of the boys shamefully replied, "Yes sir, that's where." I looked that them both and said, "You know, it isn't right to steal things from people, you should work for what you want." They both said, "Yes sir."

I know they live on the next road over, probably close enough to throw a rock and hit their houses, so I told them, "Look, you both know and I know that what you were doing was wrong, but I'm gonna cut you some slack. You boys don't do this kind of thing again, you'll end up in some serious trouble if you do. Most people won't be as forgiving as I am." They both stood there gazing at their feet as they listened to my words. Finally, I said, "You boys get home, and don't come back in this yard again."

They don't know it yet, but if I catch them over here again, they'll be mowing and doing yard work.