Tales of a tracker....

A few stories from the last couple weeks.....

• My first Tides pull-over

So I go to pick up one of my kids to take him to school, and he lives on a known drug street. So I'm at the end of the street waiting for him to come out of the corner store, which doesn't quite have the best reputation, and a cop pulls up behind me, so I pull around the corner to let him by (tho he chose not to go past). So now my kid runs out of the corner store and hops in the car, but not before the cop sees who he is. This is a kid that is known by the cops for his "previous activities," but let's be honest, which of my kids aren't known by the cops. So as I drive through the neighborhood, the cop follows me, probably checking my plates, which are registered to the Christian Brothers... and I don't look like a brother. So... I get pulled over. And of course, as soon as he hears I work for Tides, it all makes sense and I'm good to go.

• Too much information....

So I'm standing in the hallway of an apartment building to visit one of my kids the other day, and after giving me short, one-word responses for a couple minutes, he asks if I can hurry up and leave because he was talking to a girl on the phone and he was "up" before I came, but now that I'm there, he's "down." There were hand motions too, just in case I didn't know what he was referring to....

• Release

One of my boys was arrested on the way home from school last week for fighting. So when I got to the police station they were having a problem because both parents were at work. So instead of sending him to lock-up for the night, they received verbal permission over the phone from his father to release him to me. Who knew I had such authority as to be granted such custody. So I drove him home and spent an hour with him waiting for his mother to get home from work. During that hour we talked about the progress he's made and what led up to this arrest (let me just say, don't be so quick to judge someone who's been arrested until you've heard the story, tho I'm not going to post it), also during that hour this 15-year-old, juvenile delinquent boy broke down and sobbed to me. There's not much that matches that for being so heartbreaking, and so touching.

• "Ain't no tracker like mine..."

The other night I had a kid riding in my car, playing with the radio. And the song "Shorty Like Mine" came on, the kid sang the chorus, dedicated to me, however, he changed the lyrics. I've capitolized his changes below:

Only Thing That Keeps Me Up, When I'm Feelin Down, I Don't Know About U, But I Got To Keep Mines Around, Cuz I Don Looked I Don Searched, And It's Hard 2 Find, Another TRACKER Like Mine, BETH, Yes I'm Addicted To How YOU DRIVE ME TO SCHOOL ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, Neva Knew It Could Be So Wicked Hopin That U Stay TRACKIN, Search Around The World But U'll Neva Find, Another TRACKER Like Mine, TRACKER Like Mine

• Should I come back later?

Tonight I got to one house and mom let me in, and then sent me into the boy's bedroom, the door was cracked, but I still knocked on it as I opened... yep, he and the girlfriend were in bed together.... covers were up high, I have no idea if there were clothes or not.......