So Josh and I had an interesting situation arise late last Tuesday night. It all began around 1:30 in the morning. We were sound asleep when we were awoken by the sound of our doorbell.
"Who could it be?" I wondered, hoping it was not some terrible emergency.
We both got out of bed, and when Josh opened the door we realized that no one was there. We totally got ding dong ditched! "What a punk," I said, "Let's go back to bed."
Not five minutes later we were jolted by yet another doorbell ring. This was getting quite ridiculous. Josh opened the door again and like we expected, no one was there.
"Let's wait and see if those guys come back a third time," I suggested. And so we waited patiently, Josh by the door and me by the front window, watching and listening from behind the blinds. I was expecting to see some young kids scatter in the bushes, but what happened next I did not expect...
All of a sudden a shirtless Polynesian man, about mid-twenties, came around from the side of our house and started walking towards our door. I recognized this guy... he lived in the house across the street! I had the window cracked, so I yelled out to him to get off of my property. Josh then came out and approached him, telling him that it was nearly 2:00 in the morning and that we were trying to get some sleep, politely asking him if that was OK with him. The guy nodded and went away.
"Creepy!" I said as we walked back to bed. With the adrenaline pumping through my veins I couldn't get myself to fall back asleep. I don't know what it is with men, but my husband seemed to drift back into his dreams with ease. About fifteen minutes passed when I started hearing noises.... in our basement.
Now, Josh and I rent the top unit of a duplex, and we had a new tenant that was slowly moving her things in but had not moved a bed yet so we knew she had not been spending the night, all the more reason why I freaked out when my friendly little dog started growling at our stairs. I quickly woke up Josh and he grabbed his pocketknife which has a rather large blade. He led the way into our hallway as I followed, and we stood still in the silence, waiting for any sort of sound from below. Shortly after we heard some noises coming from our deck which was right beyond our sliding glass doors in the kitchen...
As Josh approached the doors I went into the bathroom and listened through the window in our shower as to hear any commotion. I heard my husband open the door and start to ask this man a series of intimidating questions like...
"Who could it be?" I wondered, hoping it was not some terrible emergency.
We both got out of bed, and when Josh opened the door we realized that no one was there. We totally got ding dong ditched! "What a punk," I said, "Let's go back to bed."
Not five minutes later we were jolted by yet another doorbell ring. This was getting quite ridiculous. Josh opened the door again and like we expected, no one was there.
"Let's wait and see if those guys come back a third time," I suggested. And so we waited patiently, Josh by the door and me by the front window, watching and listening from behind the blinds. I was expecting to see some young kids scatter in the bushes, but what happened next I did not expect...
All of a sudden a shirtless Polynesian man, about mid-twenties, came around from the side of our house and started walking towards our door. I recognized this guy... he lived in the house across the street! I had the window cracked, so I yelled out to him to get off of my property. Josh then came out and approached him, telling him that it was nearly 2:00 in the morning and that we were trying to get some sleep, politely asking him if that was OK with him. The guy nodded and went away.
"Creepy!" I said as we walked back to bed. With the adrenaline pumping through my veins I couldn't get myself to fall back asleep. I don't know what it is with men, but my husband seemed to drift back into his dreams with ease. About fifteen minutes passed when I started hearing noises.... in our basement.
Now, Josh and I rent the top unit of a duplex, and we had a new tenant that was slowly moving her things in but had not moved a bed yet so we knew she had not been spending the night, all the more reason why I freaked out when my friendly little dog started growling at our stairs. I quickly woke up Josh and he grabbed his pocketknife which has a rather large blade. He led the way into our hallway as I followed, and we stood still in the silence, waiting for any sort of sound from below. Shortly after we heard some noises coming from our deck which was right beyond our sliding glass doors in the kitchen...
As Josh approached the doors I went into the bathroom and listened through the window in our shower as to hear any commotion. I heard my husband open the door and start to ask this man a series of intimidating questions like...
"WHAT THE *insert curse word here* ARE YOU DOING ON MY PROPERTY??"
followed by,
"DUDE, YOU NEED TO LEAVE BEFORE I CALL THE COPS..."
to,
"YOU ARE DRUNK, MAN! YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW, I'M GIVING YOU A FEW SECONDS..."
After this man started talking back and refused to leave, Josh grabbed him by the shirt and threw him down the stairs of our deck, tossing him onto the concrete and into the shed below. Josh then began to beat the #$&% out of this guy, punching him at least 8 or 9 times in the effort to move him out of our yard. The intruder squirmed away, and in the process of this debacle, Josh ended up cutting the guy's arm, ripped his shoe off, and tore his belt.
I called the cops immediately after and waited with Josh on our deck until they showed up. While we waited Josh told me the window downstairs had been opened and the front door was wide open as well, and the man was in fact was trying to open our door as Josh approached the kitchen. I couldn't believe a neighbor would be so drunk and so stupid to actually break into someone's house. It worried me because I did not know what his intentions were...
You would think after getting hit so many times it would be a clear warning to not return.. but minutes later he actually came back from across the street and started walking slowly up our driveway heading straight towards us. Just as Josh began to yell out, we saw the cop car's headlights coming down our street catching him red handed!
The cops took over from there. They quickly realized this guy was absolutely BOMBED and asked us if we would like to press charges. "HELL YES," was our answer! They found out he had a warrant out for his arrest for trespassing/assault so they got him cuffed and took him off to jail.
As we walked back inside to go back to bed we couldn't believe this awful and terrifying thing had happened to us! Even though I knew he was gone I was still very anxious and had a very hard time sleeping. I kept waking up from nightmares thinking that I heard noises or that someone was in the room. Needless to say I was sleepy the whole next day at work and needed lots of coffee to stay awake. On a positive note I had a killer story to tell to my office!
The reason why I titled this post with that quote is because after this kid broke in, it was almost like he broke the ice between us and our Polynesian neighbors. During the following days we were overwhelmed with how many family members came over to apologize for Phil's actions (that's the drunk guy's name). You could tell they were deeply hurt and took it very personally that one of their own family member's put their neighbor in danger. I realized that the Polynesian culture takes their family values seriously. I was surprised that they refused to bail him out of jail and that they acted so kindly towards us. They have lived in this neighborhood for years and years, so knowing that their name was tied into a bad situation made them furious. It made us feel better talking to his father. He helped us understand about Phil's past and let us know that we had his family's full support.
Phil was bailed out by a friend in less than 24 hours and the next day came by our house to talk to Josh and apologize. He didn't remember anything from the night before, only bits and pieces. He thought he was locked out of his own house, and so he was trying to find a way in, not knowing it was not his home. He was embarassed and ashamed, but after hearing the results of his actions he was in tears. It was heartfelt and so we both accepted his apology with confidence that it would not happen again.
So because of all of this, we have made good friends with a couple of the family members, mainly Phil's older brother and his cousin. We have since invited them over for beers and football and I honestly enjoy their company. The stories of their culture continue to fascinate me. I admire their views on how family always comes first, and how even if they are drinking and smoking on a Saturday night, you can bet they will be out of bed and in church the next morning.
"Don't you ever feel guilty when you go to church and see all of these perfect families lined up next to you?" I asked, wondering how they could live such a different lifestyle than what the LDS church enforces.
"I never compare myself to others," Oni explained, "because it's not between me and them, it's between me and Him."
I was amazed by their faith and their comfort in who and what they are. This experience has opened my eyes and has taught me that while I may have little trust for strangers on the outside, I should be willing to familiarize myself with the people around me. To my surprise, they have quickly become like family and will be there for me to help whenever I might need them.
The cops took over from there. They quickly realized this guy was absolutely BOMBED and asked us if we would like to press charges. "HELL YES," was our answer! They found out he had a warrant out for his arrest for trespassing/assault so they got him cuffed and took him off to jail.
As we walked back inside to go back to bed we couldn't believe this awful and terrifying thing had happened to us! Even though I knew he was gone I was still very anxious and had a very hard time sleeping. I kept waking up from nightmares thinking that I heard noises or that someone was in the room. Needless to say I was sleepy the whole next day at work and needed lots of coffee to stay awake. On a positive note I had a killer story to tell to my office!
The reason why I titled this post with that quote is because after this kid broke in, it was almost like he broke the ice between us and our Polynesian neighbors. During the following days we were overwhelmed with how many family members came over to apologize for Phil's actions (that's the drunk guy's name). You could tell they were deeply hurt and took it very personally that one of their own family member's put their neighbor in danger. I realized that the Polynesian culture takes their family values seriously. I was surprised that they refused to bail him out of jail and that they acted so kindly towards us. They have lived in this neighborhood for years and years, so knowing that their name was tied into a bad situation made them furious. It made us feel better talking to his father. He helped us understand about Phil's past and let us know that we had his family's full support.
Phil was bailed out by a friend in less than 24 hours and the next day came by our house to talk to Josh and apologize. He didn't remember anything from the night before, only bits and pieces. He thought he was locked out of his own house, and so he was trying to find a way in, not knowing it was not his home. He was embarassed and ashamed, but after hearing the results of his actions he was in tears. It was heartfelt and so we both accepted his apology with confidence that it would not happen again.
So because of all of this, we have made good friends with a couple of the family members, mainly Phil's older brother and his cousin. We have since invited them over for beers and football and I honestly enjoy their company. The stories of their culture continue to fascinate me. I admire their views on how family always comes first, and how even if they are drinking and smoking on a Saturday night, you can bet they will be out of bed and in church the next morning.
"Don't you ever feel guilty when you go to church and see all of these perfect families lined up next to you?" I asked, wondering how they could live such a different lifestyle than what the LDS church enforces.
"I never compare myself to others," Oni explained, "because it's not between me and them, it's between me and Him."
I was amazed by their faith and their comfort in who and what they are. This experience has opened my eyes and has taught me that while I may have little trust for strangers on the outside, I should be willing to familiarize myself with the people around me. To my surprise, they have quickly become like family and will be there for me to help whenever I might need them.
So that was our little blessing in disguise!
What experiences have you had that were blessings in disguise?
Please share your stories, I would love to hear them!
What experiences have you had that were blessings in disguise?
Please share your stories, I would love to hear them!
