My good deed for the day ... err, night ... err, morning

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Friday evening, I decided to take a quick post-dinner nap. It didn’t go exactly as planned, as it lasted for a few hours. I woke up, and it was time to go to bed, but of course, I couldn’t sleep. So, I decided to watch some TV.

About 3:30 am, the doorbell rang. And rang and rang, accompanied by a frantic knocking on the door. It was a woman, in tears, begging for help. Her boyfriend had beaten her up and stolen her car. They were staying at the AirB&B next door, had a fight, and it got out of hand. She said that he had tried to strangle her, and ending up biting her. And her forearm displayed bite marks that had drawn blood.

I grabbed my phone and called 911. The 911 operator asked for a lot of information, much of it involving questions that I relayed to the woman, who answered between sobs, and that I relayed back. But the operator assured me that police and ambulance were on their way. Sure enough, a police car and an ambulance quickly showed up.

Paramedics took care of the woman, who was taken to the hospital. The police officer took a statement from me. Obviously, I was not present for the incident in the AirB&B, but I could report what happened as far as I was concerned from when the doorbell rang.

When it was all over, it was about 4:15 am. I was a little too keyed up to sleep, so I poured myself a drink, and settled back to watch more TV. I ended up greeting the dawn.

I was glad to help and to do what I could, and I hope the woman got the medical and emotional help she obviously needed. And I hope the police were able to catch the boyfriend—the woman was able to supply a description of him, and the car he would be driving, and where he was likely heading.

But phew! That was my Friday night … err, Saturday morning. How was yours?

2

Your witnessing sounds almost like a Dashiell Hammett story. Way to go Spoons!

3

A perfect opening line for your novel!

And good show.

4

It was a dark but not stormy night….

5

Good man, @Spoons! Were you scared? Did you think it could have been a scam, or that the boyfriend might show up?

6

I’ll admit that if someone was banging on my door at 3am and yelling about being attacked, I’d be on the phone with the police before opening the door. In fact, I almost certainly wouldn’t open the door until the police arrived. It sounds too much like a setup for a home invasion. FWIW, I’m also in a small enough city that a 911 call in the middle of the night would probably have the first officer arriving within two minutes or so.

7

A bit light on details for Hammett. Here is how he introduces Miss Wonderly:

The first page begins with a description of Spade’s face, moves on to “lanky sunburned” Effie Perine in her tan, woolen dress. Effie with the brown, playful eyes in the shiny boyish face. Before the end of the page we find out that Spade has thick fingers, is 6 feet tall and his steep rounded shoulders keep his grey suit from fitting properly.

I think Elmore Leonard had Hammett in mind when he wrote rule 8 of his rules for writers

8

I’d be hesitant to open the door too. Easy decision to make an immediate call for emergency assistance though.

As for Miss Wonderly in The Maltese Falcon, I always regretted how they cast that role. There were much better choices for seductive, dissembling siren - Veronica Lake for one.

9

Well done @spoons.

I rescued many when living in the mountains. But mostly just people stuck in snow.

10

I 100% agree with the first part, I’m not opening the door until I have the calvary enroute. Once I have them coming I would probably open the door & help her out but can fully understand anyone’s hesitancy to do such.

11

Something like this happened to me long ago. I was living in a house in North Wales with my girlfriend of the time, and two good other friend couples were visiting. The knock and scream was very similar.

Though in that case it was the woman’s friend’s ex-partner who was threatening violence.

I and the two other good men accompanied the victim to the house. Fortunately he had left by that time, so there was never a physical confrontation. We notified the police, of course.

The two threatened women spent the night at our house. We left our female partners to talk to them and perhaps help them feel safe. We men want for a quiet pint at the pub a few doors away, with the understanding that we were close if needed…

12

Thanks for the replies, folks. A few comments …

First of all, I’m a lawyer, with my office in my home. While they’re never welcome, phone calls at weird hours have been known to happen. Usually, it’s a drunk driver calling from the local police station, who has been told that he can call a lawyer, and he’s got my card in his wallet. I advise accordingly, but the fact remains that I’m no stranger to late night/early morning surprises like I experienced. At least this time, I was fully awake.

I wasn’t worried about any sort of scam. Anybody showing up claiming that they were $5 shy of the bus fare to Calgary would be laughed at, as there is no intercity bus depot nearby. Hell, there is very little intercity bus service at all from here.

As for a home invasion, the odds tilt in the direction of “no.” I live in a middle-class neighbourhood, on a cul-de-sac, where no house stands out from any other. It’s not like any home invaders would select my house over any others because I look wealthy. My 13-year old Chevy sits in my driveway, and my house window frames need a paint job. Besides, most crime around here is of the “opportunity” variety; that is, car prowlings, taking whatever is in plain sight, and so on. Home invasions are extremely rare, in this city and in my neighbourhood.

Maybe I was a little less careful in answering the door than I should have been, but I’m glad that I did. I was able to get help to somebody who desperately needed it.

13

Well, mine was much more boring than yours!

In retrospect, I’m glad you opened the door for the poor woman and everything worked out. But if I had persistent banging on my door at 3:30 AM, frankly I would have called 911 rather than opening the door. Especially here, where a police station is a few blocks away and a cruiser could have arrived within minutes. That’s what those guys are paid for – to assess risk and provide help.

But you did good – took a risk and helped out and should be commended for it.

14

I’d like some more details between the first and second paragraph. Did you open your door and let her inside? Or did she wait outside while you called 911?

The only humane, compassionate response is of course to try to help in this situation. That does not preclude a certain amount of carefulness, since something like this could indeed be a prelude to granting access to burglars.

15

I did not let her inside. When she told me of her predicament, I went back in to get my phone, but I closed the front door behind me. She remained on the front porch. I got my phone, took it outside, and called 911 from my front porch. Again, I closed the front door behind me.

16

Sounds like you did exactly right.

17

A young woman knocked on my door one Sunday night around 9. A neighbor from a few places over who’d had a fight with her boyfriend, ran out, and picked my door at random to knock on. She didn’t mention any violence. She came in, sat down, met my family, and talked for a while until she felt calmer, then asked for a ride to a nearby bar. She was all thankful for us helping her, though we hadn’t really done anything except extend a sympathetic ear.

18

Why are you lollygagging watching TV when you can’t sleep? Those window frames ain’t gonna paint themselves.

Anyway, good job with the assist.

mmm

19

Something similar happened to me. A young woman kept me awake, banging on my door all night long. I finally had to get up and let her out.

(apologies to Henny Youngman).