Monday, August 13, 2007

Please Call the Police

Saturday afternoon and night, Beth went to the State Fair with her boyfriend Tim. Actually, they went to the mall first and bought clothes, but that's beside the point. We told them to be back by midnight. The fair closed at midnight, but we didn't see any need for them to be out that late. Midnight was late enough.

Jeffrey and went to visit some friends and go to dinner. Cory stayed home because he had a date with an older woman - his friend Caro was in town, and they wanted to go get ice cream. Jeffrey and I ended up watching 300 with our friends and headed home later than we had intended. So, about 11:30 I called Cory to let him know we were headed home. Beth wasn't home yet, so I told him to have her call when she got there, so we'd know she was home. A few minutes before midnight, we got a call from home. I was expecting to hear Beth's voice, but instead it was Cory telling me that one of Beth's parents was supposed to call the police department. What? Not what I want to hear. I'm all worried something has happened, so, in the time it takes me to get the police officer on the phone, all kinds of horrible things are going through my head. Is she ok? What has she done?

Come to find out, they had stopped in the park, which closes at 11pm, so Tim could have a cigarette before bringing Beth home. So, since this car is parked where it shouldn't be, the police officer pulls up behind them to see what they are doing. Since Beth is a minor, he had to call us and let us know he had talked to her. Beth called soon after and we told her that we were almost home and would talk to her and Tim when we got home. What does it take to get through to them that, just because they don't have to be home before midnight, doesn't mean that they should try to pull into the driveway at exactly midnight. So you had some extra time. That's good. Being early is good. It shows that you are being responsible. Jeffrey also made sure that Tim understands that, even though he's not allowed to smoke in the house, if he really needs to have a cigarette, he can go outside. No, we don't agree with his smoking, but that's his problem. Just don't put yourself and our daughter into a bad position.

You know most of the problems they get themselves into is just that they don't think things through and realize what the consequences might be for their actions.