Towing the Line

This morning my alarm awakened me a few minutes before five o'clock. Before starting on my morning devotions I hurried downstairs to reboot my laptop. As I stood in the living room, I heard the "honk, honk" of someone's car alarm and, as usual, I ignored the first few beeps.

But the sound began to change in volume, and I looked out the window just in time to see a tow-truck hustling with remarkable alacrity out of our parking lot, a small sedan dragging along behind, its flashing headlights pointed toward the pavement. It looked exactly like a thief running away with stolen goods.

It galls me that the HOA dues I pay are used to pay for this "service." If someone is offending in their parking, then let the car be towed in broad daylight, after knocking on the neighborhood doors to see if someone made an honest mistake. Stealing away our vehicles in the dead of night is an offense against the fundamental trust we must place in each other. There must be a better way!