dispatch
11-05-2006, 11:59 PM
before my grandfather died he was in a nursing home and was a very active participant in the occupational therapy program, the man made TONS of woodworking and ceramic wares, and every time we could make the 3 hour drive out there, he sent us back with something.
among other things was an uncle sam mailbox holder that holds a mailbox on each arm, we talked to our next-door neighbors and they were happy to have theirs on it as well. It's been up for 5-6 years, my senior year of high school someone admitted to trying to pull it out, and commended my father on how well it was stuck in the ground, we laughed, I told him not to mess with it, he said he didn't know it was mine, it was just cheesy and that's why he targeted it.
I wasn't in town last year, but according to my sisters they messed with the mailbox on halloween. The week before haloween I came home from work on a thursday night and uncle sam had been smashed off 8 inches above the ground, and there was an 18-inch round (about half a meter) pumpkin in the street that was split open. My mom called the police, in tears, they said they would send someone out, but never did.
the other night my sister came running into the living room saying the mailbox just got hit again, there was a white car stopped in the street about the same size as mine with a "boxy" rear end, as soon as he saw her he took off up the street.
I ran outside, noone in sight, called 911, explained the situation and asked if they could send an officer if there was a unit available. less than 15 minutes later a cruiser shows up, shines his light on the box, asks for a description of the vehicle and asks what I want him to do (:confused: ) I ask if he could check the area to see if he could find someone stirring up trouble, etc, he asks witch way they went, I pointed him north since I thought thats where he went, 20 minutes went by and I didn't see the officer, so I went inside (it was 3am).
Fast forward 15 hours, I'm taking my sister that saw the car and her 2 freinds to the movies, I went west up the street from our house, and 3 or 4 houses up, there was a white early 90s buick with a big very acute dent in the front bumper, grill, and hood, I stopped short, pointed the car out and asked if that was the car she saw, she asked me to pull forward, once she saw the rear end and tail-lights she was sure, without a doubt, that that was the car.
Our next-door nieghbor whose mailbox is also on this went up the street and talked to the homeowner, who was suspiciously denying this
"I don't have any kids, and that's not how that dent got there"
"maybe someone stole my car and hit your mailbox"
he told him some story about how the car got dented, but it seems pretty obviousthis guy is too proud to admit he hit it and drove off, but that's pretty sad considering all we would really want is an "I'm sorry" if it was an accident, my father is fixing it back the way it was.
now the question of ettiquette, do we go back and grill this guy law and order style "my sister got your plate #.....can you account for where you were at 2:30am?" let it go, or see if the postal investigator folks will care enough to enforce the law (I'm pretty sure it's a federal offense to tamper with or vandalise a mailbox) all we really want to hear is a "I'm sorry, I was tired/drunk/not paying attention, and hit your mailbox, is there anything I can do to make it right?" to which we would reply "no, but thank you for your honesty"
thoughts? comments? suggestions?
among other things was an uncle sam mailbox holder that holds a mailbox on each arm, we talked to our next-door neighbors and they were happy to have theirs on it as well. It's been up for 5-6 years, my senior year of high school someone admitted to trying to pull it out, and commended my father on how well it was stuck in the ground, we laughed, I told him not to mess with it, he said he didn't know it was mine, it was just cheesy and that's why he targeted it.
I wasn't in town last year, but according to my sisters they messed with the mailbox on halloween. The week before haloween I came home from work on a thursday night and uncle sam had been smashed off 8 inches above the ground, and there was an 18-inch round (about half a meter) pumpkin in the street that was split open. My mom called the police, in tears, they said they would send someone out, but never did.
the other night my sister came running into the living room saying the mailbox just got hit again, there was a white car stopped in the street about the same size as mine with a "boxy" rear end, as soon as he saw her he took off up the street.
I ran outside, noone in sight, called 911, explained the situation and asked if they could send an officer if there was a unit available. less than 15 minutes later a cruiser shows up, shines his light on the box, asks for a description of the vehicle and asks what I want him to do (:confused: ) I ask if he could check the area to see if he could find someone stirring up trouble, etc, he asks witch way they went, I pointed him north since I thought thats where he went, 20 minutes went by and I didn't see the officer, so I went inside (it was 3am).
Fast forward 15 hours, I'm taking my sister that saw the car and her 2 freinds to the movies, I went west up the street from our house, and 3 or 4 houses up, there was a white early 90s buick with a big very acute dent in the front bumper, grill, and hood, I stopped short, pointed the car out and asked if that was the car she saw, she asked me to pull forward, once she saw the rear end and tail-lights she was sure, without a doubt, that that was the car.
Our next-door nieghbor whose mailbox is also on this went up the street and talked to the homeowner, who was suspiciously denying this
"I don't have any kids, and that's not how that dent got there"
"maybe someone stole my car and hit your mailbox"
he told him some story about how the car got dented, but it seems pretty obviousthis guy is too proud to admit he hit it and drove off, but that's pretty sad considering all we would really want is an "I'm sorry" if it was an accident, my father is fixing it back the way it was.
now the question of ettiquette, do we go back and grill this guy law and order style "my sister got your plate #.....can you account for where you were at 2:30am?" let it go, or see if the postal investigator folks will care enough to enforce the law (I'm pretty sure it's a federal offense to tamper with or vandalise a mailbox) all we really want to hear is a "I'm sorry, I was tired/drunk/not paying attention, and hit your mailbox, is there anything I can do to make it right?" to which we would reply "no, but thank you for your honesty"
thoughts? comments? suggestions?