A Father, A Son, and a Man on the Run
Last night my 18-year-old son came by the house and said, "Dad, I need to borrow money for a haircut." My son is a mechanic, works full time at a garage, and typically handles his own financial affairs. However, he knew he had me in a quandary. Should I give him money when I know he probably has more disposable income than I do? But then there was that haircut thing . . . I am constantly bugging him about his shaggy hair. He knew I would give in if it meant he would be clean-shaven for a week or two.
Having no cash on hand (as is always the case) I suggested we drive down to the local CVS Pharmacy so I could get cash back for him.
For the first time in a couple of years, Sam was driving me somewhere. The last time I was a passenger in his car he drove us to McDonalds where we had our last father-son talk and meal before I left for Iraq. He remembered that and commented about it. It was a nice memory. After I removed the half-ton of trash from my seat and threw it in the back, I sat down and gritted my teeth for the half-mile trip to CVS. It’s hard to be a passenger with someone you taught to drive!
When we got in the store I wandered around looking for the one small item I would purchase to get the cash back for Sam. As I looked around I noticed a young man in a sweatshirt that seemed to be startled by me. I moved on and thought nothing of it. I found a bag of sugar-free candy and brought it to the cash register. Sam handed me a tube of hand lotion to purchase for him. When I pushed the button on the card machine though I hit cancel instead of OK and the transaction was completed as a credit card purchase, which meant no cash back. I had to find another item. I settled for a bag of Doritos.
As I was standing in line waiting my turn at the cash register I noticed the young man in the sweatshirt walking toward the door. He had been in the store longer than I had and yet bought nothing. I thought that rather odd. As he went out the door, the theft security device went off, sounding the alarm. I hesitated a moment to see what the clerk would do or say. She did and said nothing. So . . . I said, "I'll get him" and ran out the door after him. My son was hot on my heels.
The man turned the corner and jumped in a car on the passenger side. Thankfully he was either too dumb or nervous to lock the door. I grabbed the door handle and opened the door. I told him, "You need to get back in the store." He said, "I ain't got nothing! What you doing?" I grabbed him and pulled him out of the car.
Did I mention that my daughter works at this store? She was in the back at the pharmacy. I had a special reason to feel protective of this store.
The young man did not struggle but was trying to get the young woman to start the car and leave. Thankfully, she did neither. If the car had moved I would have been run over for sure. The young woman was yelling, "What's happening?!"
As I pulled the young man out of the car I could feel something under his sweatshirt. He kept insisting that he had nothing. When I had him upright I pulled up his sweatshirt and four MP3 players (valued at $200) fell to the ground. At that point the store manager came out and said, "Hold him." When the man heard that, he struggled violently and said, "Let me go, man!" He did not try to hit me but I had his sweatshirt in my hands and not his body. I tried to grab him but was unable to get anything but his sweatshirt hood. It ripped off in my hands and he took off. I followed briefly but then noticed that my son already had a head start on me and I am a lot older than my son. I turned back to keep the young lady from leaving. I told her to come into the store. She was shaken up and insisted that she only knew the young man's first name and that he asked her to drive him to CVS to pick up a prescription. She waited with us for the police to arrive and was cooperative.
Meanwhile, my son chased the man for a block before tripping on something and the young man got away. He was disappointed but had no clue about what he would have done if he caught the man.
When the police arrived we all told our story and the policeman said there was little that could be done unless we saw the man again and would testify against him. The young woman's story was believable but we warned her about the foolishness of giving rides to young men that she did not know.
I completed my transaction and gave Sam his money for the haircut. When we left the store we drove down the street to see if we could spot the young man but he was not to be found.
We drove home and then talked about the foolishness of getting involved in a matter that did not directly affect us and yet we both basked in the glow of doing something rather than doing nothing. We both looked at each other differently. Sam saw his Dad as not such an old man and I viewed Sam as not such a young kid. We were men; men who did what the situation called for and did not wait for someone else to intervene.
Soldiers have a special bond with their buddies who fought side by side with them in combat. Sam and I have that bond now as well as the bond of a father and son.
We thought too about my "mistake" on the card machine - if my transaction would have worked out the first time we would have been long gone when the young man left the store and CVS would be out $200. And, of course, Sam and I would have had only his haircut to talk about on our drive home. (Even after the haircut he still looked shaggy - but better). Sam and I both know that there are no coincidences in God’s world.
(5 December 2007)~GJH~