Handcuffin' Harry

There is a saying in the Keys - "you come on vacation and go home on probation." Add Labor Day long weekend to the mix, and lookout - trouble is brewing everywhere.

When we arrived at work early this morning, we were greeted by young people in two cars looking for a room to sleep in before heading north to go home. They had been up all night. I only had one room available (and didn't know they were going to sneak 7 in a room for 4) and I began the check-in process with one of the young men. When we got to paying though, the young man realized he didn't have enough money to cover the room plus a security deposit, since he didn't have a credit card. He told me he had spent a lot of money this weekend. He went back to the car to see if he could scrounge up the total needed from his buddies, but instead, they decided to book out. Harry watched the young woman driving one of the cars back up into our car, breaking the light and denting the front, and they all took off. And so did Harry, behind them calling 911. Mind you, there is only one road out of Dodge - US1. When the two cars saw Harry, they turned off a side road probably thinking they could lose him in a neighborhood. Duh, the roads in the Keys end up in the Atlantic or the Gulf and they ended up facing a one lane gravel path. Harry had them cornered all the while on the phone with 911 and reporting their license plate numbers. The group made some menacing remarks, like "there are seven of us", but the police came and took over.

Dumb kids. All they had to do was come in, say "oops" and we would have worked something out. Instead, the police discovered that the young woman was driving on a learner's permit with no adult old enough to supervise her in the car. And, she left the scene of an accident. (If you are going to try and say you didn't do it, make sure you don't have a stripe of our paint on your car). And, she was an underage driver in a rental car. And she made an improper backing up motion. And her uncle rented the car for the young people in his name. So, now she has 12 points on her driving record, no chance of getting a license and has to come to court down here in December on criminal charges.

I felt sorry for her at first. Until the police officer said they were trouble, all lied about what happened and that one of the kids had been in jail. Eventually the truth came out but they apparently gave him a very hard time. Not such a good idea when you are visiting here, because apparently the adage is true - you will end up on probation!