911

I've only dialed 911 once before. I think I was 8 or 9 and I did it on a dare and still carry a pretty significant amount of guilt for that clear waste of taxpayer resources (although honestly, I can't remember what exactly happened).

So last night when, after a lovely evening with new friends wandering around old port, a guy decided to grab my friend Cori's wallet and take off running with 4 screaming girls and two larger gentleman tearing after him; I found myself in the position to make such a phone call. Actually, I found myself stammering to explain to my dad, who I was on the phone with, what was happening. After hanging up and running around the block the opposite direction, I found another burly gentleman to help in the chase and he told me to call. So I did. And after 30 minutes, the portland police made an appearance. (I found out today that they've had to make serious cutbacks in the police force because of budget cuts...sorry for my prank call america, I'm a jerk) Still no wallet found, but luckily not much was lost, apart from an old cell phone and a few dollars in cash. I'm thankful to have been with these girls when it happened, I can't imagine what I would have done if I'd been all alone! I'm also really impressed and encouraged by the kindness of strangers to help - one guy even ran out of his apartment in his pj's to ask what was wrong and how he could help - pretty impressive!