the cops came

I like catchy titles. Ones that say "hey... what's this blog about today?" Ones that say "Who? What? The cops came? I HAVE to read that"...

So, that's why I titled this entry that way.

But, really, the cops did come. Not to my house. My sisters. It's actually a quite amusing story. My nephew is somewhat of a fascinating 11 year old. My sister is a single mom, and she just really doesn't always know what to expect next. Living on a very limited income, there isn't always extra money to spend on impractical things. So, my nephew has gotten pretty clever about finding resourceful ways to create an income for himself. It isn't unusual for him to offer to pull weeds for $15 or scoop the deck of snow in the winter for $10 each. It gets a little expensive to hire him, and Shawn calls it robbery (although he still pays it) .. but we've had to negotiate quite a bit in order to afford to help him out. Especially since we have to usually go back and do the job ourselves after he's "completed".

So, my insurance agent called me yesterday to offer me a deal of the century. And he just happens to be a neighbor of my sister. Is this gossip? My insurance agent said that my sister said that my nephew.... ?

Okay, nevermind that... it's just another twist on the story that I already knew.

Anyway, it seems my nephew heard about an animal shelter starting up in town and liked the idea. So, he decided the little town five miles away needs one too. So, he took his tin can and hit the streets to collect. My insurance agent's wife contributed to a very needy cause, seeing how she just rescued a goldfish from an untimely death and saved his life by giving him a home in a lovely bowl in her living room.

However, another neighbor nearby, didn't think it was quite as lofty an idea, and called the cops. So, a short while later, my sister sat with her son, a police officer, and a tin can between them. And he explained that while it wasn't really something that actually WAS happening, it was something that he WANTED to help happen.

The police officer took my nephew to all the neighbors and returned their contributions. My insurance agent was polite and took the money back - and then whispered to the police officer that "he really is a good kid". They exchanged a smile and a wink and called it a good lesson in life.

Incidentally, the agent is going to New York on a trip with his wife, and she couldn't see how rescuing a gold fish would be beneficial unless they made arrangements for care while they were gone,... so they hired my nephew to goldfish sit while they are gone. I informed him to be prepared to pay much more than the job is worth, and could I get the name of the place they got the goldfish so I could find a twin look alike before they get back if needed?

Comments

melanie said…
oh chris, you are the sweetest young man ever! what a huge heart! we know who to call next time we are gone for our kitty, since our fish somehow ended up down the garbage disposal...?
Amy Flege said…
aww he meant well. cute story!
Natalie Joy said…
What a precious boy. God can do something with a heart like that.
Anonymous said…
You could send this one to Reader's Digest---if they publish, they pay. You could use the money for a few weed pullings....

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