Lost and Found - A "feel good" tale...

[Mitch Cronin]

... about two golf carts (of all things!), that I thought I'd like to share:

Over the years, while walking our various dogs, my wife and I have found some interesting things...: a horse that was stuck in an old bunch of fencing laying on the ground, A ten-pin sized bowling ball, a box of discarded books (that included a pristine copy of John Lennon's "A Spaniard In The Works" -among other decent books), Some lovely green leafy products , ...other dogs... and other not so memorable oddities...

Yesterday, Mrs. Mitch came home with the dogs panting out their usual stories of all they'd sniffed, but she had a different tale to tell... She'd come across a pair of golf carts! One was parked between a trio of old abandoned silos, and the other was stuffed into tall grass at the edge of a small wooded area nearby. Both appeared to her to be in working order, but had their canopy's torn off...

This is a bit of an odd town we live in... Teen aged kids hereabouts have a reputation for some interesting stunts. Our introduction to this town came in 1981 when we lived in another town about 10 miles from here, while driving along the highway just on the edge of town we came across a giant sized bonfire in the middle of the highway! Not on the shoulder, but smack in the middle of the pavement... it was Halloween night. Obviously the kids that started that fire have grown up, but I guess the same root causes of mischief and misdeed are still present.... anyway, I knew those golf carts didn't belong where they were, so I set out to try to find their owner...

About a mile outside of town theres a fellow who fixes golf carts, and that's where I headed first. The proprietor wasn't available, so I took one of his employees for a ride to go see the oddly parked vehicles... "Nope, they're not ours" said the man... "But you know... I think "Spring Creek" [one of several local golf courses] has green ones, maybe you should try there?"... So I dropped him off back at his shop, and headed over to the Spring Creek Golf course...

I felt just a wee bit odd waltzing into a golf course clubhouse (or whatever it might be called?)... It looked a bit like a bar... or maybe a Legion hall?... or maybe a yacht club?... I don't golf.... and I do believe I didn't look anything like the few golfers who were sitting there gazing at this character who probably appeared to have just fallen off his mule. After slowly taking in the whole scene, I eventually found a man standing behind an out of the way counter, who was talking on the phone, and appeared to be an employee. When I approached him he covered the mouthpiece of the phone and with a look that betrayed a hint of how far fetched he thought his question seemed, he asked if he could help me... "Are you missing a couple of golf carts?" I asked... His phone call suddenly ended and I had his undivided attention. "Yes!" He said, with a look that seemed to combine mistrust with hope... "I think I know where they are", I said...

In a short time I was introduced to "Corky", the owner of the establishment, and Corky and I went for a drive... He had a million questions, almost none of which I could answer. But when he saw the golf carts he was elated! They were his... They'd been stolen about a week before. He'd kept them with a wire running through the steering wheels and canopies which, if cut, would have sounded an alarm, but the thieves had instead cut the canopies and steering wheels... leaving the wire intact.

He instantly drove the one out of the wooded area to park it behind my truck. (I was surprised to see it worked!... not out of gas, no dead battery!) and quickly retrieved the other from behind the silos as well... Now we had the problem of how to get them back to the golf course. After one failed attempt at towing one of them with the other, and abandoning the idea of tossing one in the back of my Suburban (I would have had to remove the back seat), I suggested he drive one, while I drove the other... and we'd stop by my house to get Mrs. Mitch to follow us and run me back to the truck afterward.

It took a little while, but we eventually got them both home.... He'd explained - during one of several stops to cool them a bit while on the way - that they were worth about $5,000 a piece, and claiming them on insurance was a no go, since his deductible was huge, and his premiums would then rise as well... He figured repairs might cost him a grand, but that was a MUCH better outcome than just losing them. When we got to the golf course he tried to get me inside with him, but I just wanted to go... He stammered and reached in his pockets... I wasn't about to accept any of that, so I just shook his hand... He offered me some free golfing, and as I told him I didn't golf, he shook my hand and offered me what may be the most sincere "thank you" I have ever received. I do believe I saw a tear in the mans eyes... That was plenty reward enough for me.

A few hours later the dogs alerted us to the presence of a visitor at our door... There was Corky holding out a package of Roses. I don't know if he saw it, but there was a tear in my eyes then... Damn that all felt good!

Cheers folks,

Mitch

[Vsplat]

Now that's a fine posting, and a class act.

Thanks. I needed that today.

Cheers

Vs.

[ccairspace]

Now that's a fine posting, and a class act.

Thanks. I needed that today.

Cheers

Vs.

Me too. Great story... woven to perfection.

[J.O.]

Now that's a fine posting, and a class act.

Agreed. Maybe if those young men in the UK had crossed paths with a generous soul like you, Mitch, they would have chosen a different road, rather than taking so many innocent lives.

Your writing style is every bit as captivating as J.K. Rowling (too bad AEF doesn't pay quite as well ). Should you and your dogs stumble across a nice new CCM bike (candy apple red), let me know. My 13 yr old had his stolen from a friend's garage a while back. I'd buy you some wine to go with the roses (or Appleton's if you prefer ).

[Guest yudig]

Good job Mitch. In today's rush rush world there are not too many people who would take the time or trouble to try to track down the owners plus take the time to ensure that the merchandise gets back to the right people

[boestar]

Very well written Mitch. That would be a good one for the Readers Digest. You don't hear many stories like that these days.

B

[Mitch Cronin]

J.O. .... Funny you should mention... I once found a bike...

During one of my failed quitting smoking attempts, I hadn't yet broken the news to my kids that I smoked again... thought maybe not telling them might help encourage me to knock it off again... So I was "just going for a drive" to have a smoke... The last place we lived was on a small sideroad not too far away from here, which had a small stream running along side the road, and I missed the tranquil sounds of that stream. So while "just going for a drive" - to sneak a smoke - I'd park myself beside that stream and listen while I puffed, and daydream.... This one time, - as it turned out, it was to be my last time - I saw a bike in the stream. I retrieved the bike, brought it home, and thought about how to find it's owner....

I first asked my kids if they recognized it, or if they knew anyone who's bike was missing... "No", and "nope"... Then, thinking it couldn't be anyone local, or they'd have known about it, I tried calling the police to report a bike "found".... It happened to be a holiday that day (can't remember which?), and there was nothing but a tape machine at the number I'd been given by a local police "general information" receptionist, so I called another number, and was given yet a different number for a specific stolen items reporting place (I think)... again, no dice.... Finally someone at a police station someplace told me I'd be out of luck until the following Tuesday, so the bike remained in my garage.... that is, until the owner's dad saw it and all but accused me of stealing it!

I stammered and stuttered over the explanation of my dealings on the phone with various people at police stations, as he wiped the rest of the creek yuk off of it, and I doubt I sounded believeable... His son... - the owner of the bike and an acquaintance of my son [who later said he knew the kid's bike was missing, but didn't recognize it because of the creek yuk] wanted to know all about how I'd found it.... so in my silly attempt to avoid any dishonesty and tell all, I admitted to the sneaking cigarettes stuff... and that point was duly noted and later reported to my son. The jig was up, my kids knew... I was busted.

Thus ended my frequent trips "just going for a drive" to sit and listen to the stream.

Sorry mate, No red CCM's in my sights recently... Other than tell you not to bother trying the cop shops anywhere near a holiday, I'm afraid I can't help you there. (Unless you want my daughter's bike that she won't ride anymore because it's too much like a boys bike, and it's probably not cool for a young "chick" to be riding a boy's bike? ... or maybe any bike anyway?)

Cheers,

Mitch