My dad's not such a great cop, after all

We had a unique experience recently which has really made me feel the gamut of emotions. One afternoon I was out walking with Charlotte and Dallas, just enjoying the sights and sounds of our urban neighborhood. We stopped in at the local grocery store and at one point Charlotte says "Mom! Mom! Your phone!" She could hear it ringing perfectly because I carry it in my pocket and her ear is about (mommy) pocket height. I fished it out of my pocket and just missed the call from my husband as it went to voicemail. As I was getting ready to call him back, I noticed that this was my second missed call within minutes from him. When I called back and he answered, this is how the conversation went:

DH [angry tone]: What took you so long to answer the phone?!!?
me: I'm at the grocery store and it's noisy so I couldn't hear the phone. Charlotte heard it ringing in my pocket.
DH: [Our neighbor] just got robbed in the garage.
me: What?
DH: Yeah, Austin and I are driving around looking for him. [He proceeded to give me a description of the person.] If you see him, call me. And BE CAREFUL!

The whole way home I was very aware ~ I usually am but this afternoon my senses were heightened. For the record, I'm pretty sure I didn't see the suspect. When I got home, I waited anxiously for DH and Austin to come home to hear the whole story. Evidently this guy was just hanging out waiting IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. I'm so proud of our neighbor because she actually gave up a fight and tried to get away from him, although she was unsuccessful.

The horrible thing is that DH was home the entire time that this happened, and he wishes to high heaven he could have prevented it. Thankfully our neighbor has a really good attitude about it; DH said she was so calm when he was talking to her that at first he wasn't actually comprehending what she was telling him had happened. I'm also thankful that it didn't happen to me when I have all the kids in tow, and have now vowed to never ever go gallavanting around with my entire wallet but instead just the minimal things I need for whatever my errands are. DH has renewed his campaign to keep us chained safely inside except for absolutely required trips. I'm renewing my campaign to bring some balance to his perspective.

This "inability to prevent" this incident reminds me of a story from the life of my uncle the cop. (Have I told this story before? I'm having deja vu.) Evidently my young cousin left his bike out in front of their garage, where it promptly got stolen. (To be fair, I think it was over near the garbage bins so someone could have "guessed" it was available for, ahem, "free.") When they realized that the bicycle had been stolen, my cousin was heard saying "My dad must not be a very good cop because he couldn't even keep my bike from getting stolen."