Morning Driveway Doings

I was roused from sleep at 5 a.m. this morning by the sound of a car idling in my driveway. The idling was going on too long. It was about the time I expected E. to show up, but the extra idling was atypical. Was E. having some kind of problem in the driveway? So, I looked out my bedroom window....

Instead, through the dawn's early light, I saw an unfamiliar black sedan parked in the driveway next to my car. I could see someone in the car rifling through bags. The car was parked outwards rather than inwards: the driver had backed into the parking space. Highly-unusual.

I started hypothesizing as to why he had parked that way. It's dark next to hedge that borders the driveway. He could be seeking ultra-darkness, for some nefarious reason. Alternatively, he could be minimizing the distance between the driver's seat and my garbage can, maybe also for nefarious reasons. But I couldn't let him remain: E. would arrive shortly and a confrontation with her could be unpredictable. So, I got out of my bed in my pajamas, climbed downstairs, and approached the sedan from behind.

The tall, jug-eared man (who looked like a cross between Lyndon Johnson and Bruce Willis) was just leaving the car with a couple of sacks, and approaching the back of the car just as I was approaching the car. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was parking the car there temporarily. I asked him to move the car. He sighed, but complied, and apologized again just as I retreated back into my yard. "No prob," I replied.

But it was all highly suspicious; he was dressed head-to-toe in black, with a black cap, and he didn't appear to belong to the neighborhood. I did not get a license plate number, or make and model of the sedan. Under the circumstances, I thought it best not to get too close.

More than many folk, the criminal element behaves rationally, and will act to minimize friction, if given the opportunity. It's not like the over-dramatic musical theatre folk, who tend to behave the opposite.

I sent a brief report to the police on the Internet, but failed to give all details, so I will have to send again.