Relative Something

It was 1:30 in the morning, and our phone was ringing. It was on Cyndie’s side of the bed, and she wasn’t moving. I jumped out of bed and headed around to get it, then she popped up and grabbed it.

“It’s Trans-Alarm.” she says, after looking at the caller ID displayed.

My response was, “Dammit.” I didn’t realize Cyndie had already pushed the ‘Talk’ button when I uttered it, and the gentleman on the other end of the line seemed extra-apologetic, so I’m guessing he heard my exclamation.

“Alarms on the perimeter doors and internal zones have been triggered. Police have been dispatched. Can you meet them there with a key?”

I am second in line to receive calls from the security company when my workplace alarms trigger. If the owner is unavailable, or he simply doesn’t pick up, they move on to my cell and home numbers.

It has been a tough month. A week or so ago, we were awoken two nights in a row by an indoor motion sensor alarm call. The message from the alarm company this time was different, and I knew the owner was out-of-town.

“Yes, I can be there in about 15 minutes.” He asked me what make and model car I would be driving. Geesh, was I at risk of getting hit by friendly fire? Cyndie offered to come along, and questioned how I would get the place re-secured if doors or windows had been broken. It is interesting how fast your mind paints a picture of wild possibilities when a phone call interrupts your slumber in the middle of the night, and involves the word, “police.”

I hustled to get dressed, and pushed my little Subaru around corners with purpose. As I closed in on the location of our building, I took a couple cleansing breaths to prepare myself for a calm and controlled conversation with the officers on scene.

I turned into the parking area on the front of our building, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, continued around to the back, where I saw… absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. I went through a variety of intellectual and emotional responses, essentially boiling down to: “It figures.”

I drove all the way around and parked at the front door. I got out of my car, paused to contemplate my life, the universe, and everything, and then called the alarm company.

I asked them about the police: “Maybe they have been there and gone. I can connect you to them.” I hemmed and hawed a bit, asking whether I should go in and check, or what options or advice our alarm company might suggest. Of course, she wasn’t going to suggest anything. It was up to me whether I want to go in or not. She was more than happy to get the police on the line for me.

What the heck, I needed to talk to them anyway.

“911 emergency…” I guess I expected she was going to connect me to a person who had a clue what I was calling about, but, no, this was like a cold-call to the 911 dispatcher. I explain that I had arrived at the building to meet the officer(s) who responded to our alarm call.

“We have no calls to respond to that address.” Did I say, ‘it figures’ earlier? Now I was feeling like the brunt of some practical joke. A half an hour ago, I was warm and snug in my bed, soundly enjoying a good night’s sleep. That was a far cry from standing outside my workplace in the blustery chill of the middle-of-the-night darkness, wondering if I dare open the door, or not.

I asked the dispatcher if I should go in. That had to be entirely up to me. She offered to send a squad car. At this point, it just didn’t seem worth it. I told her I would take a look myself, and if I found anything, or needed help, I would call 911.

I pulled on the outer door to find it securely locked. I opened that and stepped up to our front door, peeking in to see if the alarm was flashing red alert, or anything else. I couldn’t see a thing. I unlocked that door and pulled it open to find the display completely blank. Hmm. I flipped the light switch. Nothing.

Power was out. That’s all it was. Or was it? There goes the mind again, racing to all manner of possibility. Ultimately, I think that is all it was. We’ll find out on Monday. I double-checked to ensure all the perimeter doors were secure, called the alarm company back, asked why they couldn’t have detected it was a power failure incident, and reported that everything appeared in order. I went home and tried to get a half-night’s sleep.

That universe sure has some sense of humor.