The Golf Cart Incident

Today was a very boring day of laundry and house cleaning, until I remembered that I had promised my friend Jee Jee that we would attend her son's Jr. High football game. It was 2:00 when I had remembered and the game started at four. Even though I still had to make a trip into town to get Bubsy a new box of contact lenses (he lost one yesterday), I was adamant that I make the game so I could see my friend, whom I hadn't seen since July 4th.

I left the big kids a note and told them to be ready to go when I got home because we had to pick up little Piggy at school 20 minutes later.

After I rounded up all the kids, and one of their friends who joined us, we headed out for the ballgame which ended with a 0-0 finish. Nothing spectacular, but Jee Jee's son played both offense and defense and did a great job!

After we all went to dinner at the favorite local Mexican joint and were on our way home, Bubsy got a call on his cell phone from a couple of girls in the neighborhood. They had a problem. Their golf cart was stuck on a hill in the woods behind the park and they couldn't get it loose. Apparently it was only sitting on one of the 4 wheels it was attached to. They had called Bubsy for help because they didn't want to call their grandparents.

These two girls live with their grandparents in the most exclusive part of our neighborhood, "The Estates". I'm not really sure what their story is, but I know that have had some problems in the past. The very near past.

Last week one of Bubsy and Rea's friends came over to the house on his golf cart. He and Bubsy went for a ride and met up with these girls, who were on their own golf cart. When the boys decided it was too hot to ride around, they came back to the house for dinner. After dinner was over, they went back outside to take a nice leisurely ride in the cooler weather. The only problem was... the golf cart that was parked in our circle driveway was MISSING!!

GONE!!

Arivaderce!!

Now, this friend of Bubsy and Rea's has a Mom who is very strict and doesn't tolerate any monkey business. The friend was worried that his Mom would find out and he would be in trouble.

The boys had a good idea of who took the golf cart, so we went in search of them.

After looking for a half hour, we finally found them... Just about the time that the friend's Mom saw them on their golf cart. As I was chasing them down in the car, his Mom called and proceeded to fuss at him for letting someone drive their golf cart. He was really upset and had every reason to be. He had done nothing wrong and the golf cart had been "stolen" from our driveway by a couple of teenage girls.

Once we caught up with them, I gave them a good stern talking to. I knew they were embarrassed and they had every reason to be. I went to the friend's house and explained the whole situation to his Mom, who immediately called the girls' grandparents. It wasn't an hour later that I got an apology from one of the girls for her behavior.

End of story... Well, no.

After the desperate call from them tonight, we went looking for them to see if we could help get the golf cart dislodged from where it was so that they could go home. I wasn't sure at the time if I was going to call the grandparents or not about their most recent problematic adventure. I knew first hand of the trouble they had been in the week before, but knowing they had taken the golf cart into the woods created more of a dilemma for me. I don't think they had learned their lesson.

We searched and searched for them, and even had them flash their lights so we could find them. When we finally spotted them, they were so far back into the woods that there was NO WAY that we could get to them. I pulled the truck as far back into the woods as I was willing to go, but still they were a good 500 feet from us at least. There was a mass of trees and brush separating us from them.

They were scared and I felt sorry for them.

There was no way in hell that I was going to be able to help them. It was dark and they were so far back in the brush that the only sign of them was the flickering light of the cart and the screams we heard as they tried to make their way through the brush.

I told Bubsy to call them on their cell phone and tell them to come towards the truck lights so that I could take them home. There was no way we could get this golf cart out in the dark.

After about ten minutes of hearing their screams, they finally emerged with a tiny miniature Schnauzer in tow.

They informed us that they had been there for about an hour and a half, and a third girl (one who I know very well) had been with them and bolted for home when they got stuck. She must have walked a good 3 miles to get home.

Just about the time the girls reached us their Grandmother called. I urged them to tell the truth, that their golf cart was stuck in the woods. I also encouraged them to tell their grandparents that there was no way to get it out until sunlight. But the grandparents were insistent and decided to come and see for themselves.

When they arrived in their Mercedes SUV and finally found their way through the brush to us, they were very upset. The golf cart could not be seen without the key in the ignition turning on the lights. It had succumbed to the night.

The grandparents thanked me for my help and I told them how sorry I was that this had happened. Not that I had been a part of it, I was only trying to help after they had phoned Bubsy. They had been in enough trouble and I was trying to save them from getting into more.

Do you know what the grandmother's reaction was? She said, "If you ever bring home the golf cart with mud on it again, you will never drive it again. We'll sell it!"

Hello!! They stole one golf cart and got the other one stuck so far in the woods that I'm not sure it's retrievable without a tow truck!!

Note to the Grandparents: SELL IT NOW!!! Before someone gets hurt!!