I just have to relay a story that just happened. Shortly after 12:30am (yeah, A.M.), I was startled by the door bell. We have one of those old fashioned door bells with the mechanical twist key. Most people that are new to the house do not know how to operate it (or see it at night), so I assumed that the person at the door was a friend (possibly in trouble).
I was shocked to see a young man with a nice winter coat (wasn't that cold out) holding a box. Was he selling something? He seemed, you know, different and stuff.
"You gotta pump?" he says.
"What?" I answer dumbly: "No, I don't want to buy anything."
At this point, I can see the guy is retarded. He is holding an empty box for an inflatable mat, and is trying to borrow a pump to assist in some kind of disabled sleep-over. He is pointing to a mechanical bellow style pump in a picture on the box. The only way I could help him would be with a small air compressor that works only with a car cigarette lighter. I told him I couldn't help, he said "okay" and stumbled off of my porch.
I watched him for a little while, walking up the street, stopping at houses. I felt like following him, because this was truly bizarre. Retarded people, especially well-dressed retarded people don't wander the streets of Maryville at night. What house was he at where walking out past midnight to knock on neighborhood doors seems like a good thing to do.
It was 15 minutes later when I realized that I should probably have called Public Safety. I started to worry about his safety, only after I locked the front door.
--gh
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