"The Cavalry" - Teenage Mormon Stormtroopers attack RFM/Consig

[malkie]

Out of curiosity, Marcus, would you have called the police? I have to admit I might have. If I had no idea who did it, I might call the police.

When I was much younger and living by myself, I came home one evening after a day teaching in the city, and my door was standing open. I called my local police and they came over immediately and an officer walked through the house for me. No one was inside so I apologized but they stopped me and said I had done the right thing.

Another time, I came downstairs to find a person wearing the work vest of our local utilities, with an official-looking ID around his neck, inside my living room. He startled me and I yelled 'get out of my house,' but he held up his ID and said 'I'm an employee! Sorry for entering, but since I'm here can I check your meters?' The police in my town had sent around a notice about people scamming homeowners with utilities id's, so I just kept yelling 'get out of my house' and he eventually left. I was extremely distressed by that experience. That time I called the police and also made a report to our local utilities.

Another time, I left my car/house keys in my door as I was bringing in stuff. My neighbor took the keys out of my door, then sat on his porch and watched my house until I came out. He came over to give me my keys, and I was very appreciative of his help. He did NOT enter my house. He said he didn't mind waiting for me a bit, but that he would have dropped my keys off at the police station and explained the situation if I hadn't come back out before he left. He didn't have my phone number at the time and I wasn't answering the bell, and he didn't want to leave a note because he thought that wasn't safe and might make me a target.

Long story short, yes, I probably would have called the police.

That's a good question, Rev.

And a good answer, Marcus. I'm glad that the police were understanding on that first occasion. There can be a terrible inclination for us to think that there's nothing to worry about, or we can handle whatever happens, etc. I'm pretty sure that the police would rather be called out 1000 times and find nothing wrong on 999 of these occasions just to avoid the tragedy that could have occurred without them on the last one.

Rev, if you were to role-play this with your daughter, what would you expect her to do, and what do you hope she would do? If there's a difference in these two answers, would you try to bridge the gap?

[Dwight]

Incidentally, I find it ironic that you state a Mormon woman would feel 'mission leadership' are the protectors they need. Out in the real world, women who feel unsafe in this manner call the police.

Clearly you did not serve a mission. All the sisters I served around would call the mission president or district leader first. I was in a shared apartment and the bike elders got a bipolar stalker who would come to our first floor apartment and when we wouldn’t answer the door would happily walk around to our patio and look in the through the glass if the blinds were not shut. Even these elders called the mission president before calling the police to get a restraining order. The sisters in the district thought it was scary and what they would have done if not in immediate danger. They also had the “pleasure” of a particularly prank master just before I was there and from the first time assumed elders first. This leadership reliance still seems evident with all my nieces who have been on missions in the last 6 years.