Would be burglers deturred:

The following is a true-story: This is a story that I have NOT shared with my mother yet because she frantically locks up her home every night just to avoid such situations: If you know her, I ask you to please NOT share this story- And.. Hopefully she doesn't read my blog:

I work a graveyard shift at a local Juvenile Justice center for troubled youth. This is a job that I am certainly excited about because it is above any pay grade that I've been able to get locally in a downed economy plus it comes with excellent benefits for my family: The downside is just that: Its a graveyard shift.. I get to sleep with my wife 2 sometimes 3 nights a week and at this point we've both grown somewhat accustomed to sleeping alone and hogging the bed. At any rate, as a result of working the graveyard shift, I sleep throughout the day and I often get much less sleep than desired: Sleep that I happily sacrifice to see my daughters smile, I also still carry a personal fire-department issued pager with me throughout the day and I respond accordingly to emergencies during the daytime. I am "On-call" to respond to fire and medical emergencies several days a week, Something that I LOVE doing and would sacrifice sleep for any time - any day...
 I live in an apartment complex directly across the street from my fire department and as a result I often make it there quickly, however this complex has its downsides: One being that kids run around and play in the park next door, We have single-paned windows and our room is right next to the parking lot and local storage sheds.. (Don't get me wrong, I love living there and most days I can sleep through the noise) However on one particular day this last week, I was absolutely exhausted and I chose to leave my pager at home and go to sleep in my parents dark basement where no light or street noise for that matter can get in for a few hours of sleep before I had to return to work..
There I was; Sleeping like a baby in the spare basement bedroom: I hadn't let anyone know where I was because I didn't wish to be disturbed... I was woken up to a doorbell ringing, which I ignored twice until it rang a third time. Reluctantly, I threw the covers off the bed and went to the front door of my parents house thinking that something must be important, "Maybe Amy needs in" I thought to myself, I opened the door and stood behind it for a second, expecting Amy to just walk in, It was then that I noticed a gray bag of tools sitting on the doorstep and a skinny unshaven man standing on my parents doorstep, It appeared as though he and I were both perplexed at the situation, I observed him reach down and sluggishly attempt to cover his bag of tools and then I managed to mumble through my bagged eyes and half awake mentality the words "Can I help you?" Still perplexed the man looked at me and introduced himself as "Stan." Stan was soliciting services for a local lawn chemical company, He quickly handed me a card with his name and company info, gave a brief although not very thorough statement of his services and then he turned around to leave without offering anything to sign up for; having worked sales before I began to grow suspicious,  Nobody comes door to door selling subscriptions to a service and leaves before even asking me if I'm interested in that service... I watched him grab his bag and walk back to a truck parked on the corner across the street- He didn't knock on any more doors, and he jumped into the passenger side of a trashy white truck with what I assumed for a brief moment was another salesman.. I didn't really think much about it until I tried to lay back down to sleep.. I got to thinking about his tool-bag, I used to work maintenance and I like to think that I'm familiar with tools- I haven't seen these types of tools before and I began to recall the entire situation... "What does a lawncare service salesman need with a bag of tools?" "Why didn't he try to actually SELL me anything?" "Where was his company shirt" I asked myself these types of questions for a few more minutes. It all seemed quite fishy to me now. I began to recall a situation a few years ago when my parents had a vehicle parked out front of their home and somehow over the course of an evening, thieves had managed to steal all 4 tires and rims off of that vehicle and had the car propped up on rocks! I decided I'd figure it all out in the morning...
 I looked over the sales card that he gave me and decided to call the number the next morning. "______ Lawncare" a woman answered.. "Hi, I received a card yesterday from a salesman for your company, I just had a few questions regarding your service"... (Long pause).. "Yesterday" came the reply" "Yes, Yesterday, A gentleman named Stan came to my parents door selling lawncare services and I just had a couple of questions about the services".. (2nd LONG Pause) We don't have any salesmen in the field anymore, and Stan no longer works for the company, Are you sure it was _____ Lawncare" "Yes, This is the card I recieved, It was pulled out of a stack of cards for your company" Again came the reply "Well we no longer have any salesmen out in the field but I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have".. "Strange, but I got the info I was looking for, thanks for your help" and with that our conversation came to an end... I have since come to the realization that somebody was about to attempt robbing my parents home, and I would assume judging by the size of that stack of cards handed out that their home wasn't his only attempt." I have no way of knowing for sure... Perhaps Stan was out there and bitter towards his ex company... Who knows... Luckily I have yet to hear any stories of anyone in the immediate neighborhood getting robbed, and perhaps my conclusion is off: But.. My advice: Lock your windows and doors when you're not at home because I live in a small community where crime is few and far-between and I think that the lawncare was just a cover...