9-1-1

I am not a nosy neighbor. However, I am concerned about the rise in theft in our county. That is why I called 911 at 2:00 this morning. A noise woke me at about 1:30. As I was laying there trying to figure out what it was, Noah came into my room and said he woke up and was scared. I got him back to bed and heard what sounded like a truck diving by slowly and stopping. By the time I got to the window, it was gone. I went back to bed and then heard it again, but when I went to the window, I saw nothing. I then heard what sounded like a lawn mower/tractor running. I woke Joe to let him know that I thought something was wrong. He went outside with a light to look around while I looked on from the front door.
We both saw tractor lights through the woods at the same time. Joe came running inside to get the car keys and said, "Call 911, I think someone just stole the neighbor's tractor." Our neighbor (if you could call it that since he lives across the road and down about a quarter of a mile) does not have a phone so I had no way of reaching him. As Joe ran out the door, I dialed 911.

Operator: 911, What is your emergency?
Me: My name is...and I live at...and I think someone just stole my neighbor's tractor.
Operator: Why do you think that?
Me: I heard a noise and saw lights through the woods and I don't think he should be working at this time of night.
(This is where I think she probably begins to wonder if I am really just being a nosy neighbor)
Operator: Ma'am can you tell me what kind of tractor or what type of vehicle you saw?
Me: We live in the woods, I could only see lights through the brush, but my husband has gone to chase them.
Operator: Do you think that is wise?
Me: Wise?
Operator: Since you can not see, are you at a place where you can hear what is 'going down'?
Me: Going down?
Operator: You know, loud voices, tires screeching, gunshots...
Me: Gunshots?
Operator: Ma'am, does your husband have a cell phone?
Me: Yes, 909-....
Operator: There is a deputy on the way. I am going to try and contact your husband, if you hear anything else, call me back.

At this point I hung up the phone and sat on the front steps, listening with all my might but once again could hear nothing. As I sat there, the phone in my hands rang, nearly scaring me to death. Joe was calling me to tell me it had been a false alarm. I am a little fuzzy on the details, but someone had run into the ditch and our neighbor was trying to pull them out with his tractor.
I called 911 again to let them know there was no need to send a deputy and apologized for the inconvenience. The operator said, (and I quote here) "It is no problem at all, we get nosy neighbor calls all the time." I repeat to you, I am NOT a nosy neighbor.