Never Talk to Strangers!

When I was a child, my mother used to say "never talk to strangers." I guess I never was very good at taking instruction! Today was a good example. I was driving to one of my houses to do a little maintenance work. On the way, I drove by the only house that I now have vacant. As I glanced at the house, I noticed a stranger leaning up against the front of the house, fiddling with something in his hands. The guy looked a little "iffy" and I decided to stop and see what he was doing.

I got out of the truck and asked the guy if I could help him. He said "no, I'm waiting for someone". I responded that was fine, but he couldn't wait on our property (I never say "my" property, because I want to portray that I'm just the manager). The guy said that he was waiting for the person that lived in the house and said that he had just been talking to them a few minutes before. Since the house is vacant, I knew that he was lying. I asked him for the names of the occupants of the house and he said that he didn't know, but it was a Mexican and a woman. There aren't many Mexicans in this part of Ohio and almost every Mexican male that I have seen would be working during the day (as I was doing). I told the guy that there was no Mexican that lived at the house.

I asked the liar again what he was doing at the house and he said that his friends were working in the back of the house. I followed the guy around to the back, keeping a safe distance behind him. There was no-one at the back of the house and I told the guy to get off the property and stay off or I would have him arrested! He left the property and started walking down the street.

My next concern was that someone might have indeed broken into the house. I used my key to enter the house and carefully searched it. There was no-one in the house and no evidence that anyone had been in there.

As I exited the house, I saw a couple of guys that lived in the neighborhood. I asked them if they knew who the stranger was and they said that he had been slinking around their truck and camper a little while earlier. Obviously, this guy was up to no good. Clearly, mother knew what she was talking about - this stranger was definitely trouble. I asked the two neighborhood guys to call me if they saw him again and they said the would do so, as well as calling the police.

I'll try to keep an eye on the property for the next couple of days.