Article September 3, 2007 Issue

Love was my WEAPON of choice

BY SCOTT PARADIS

I WAS ENJOYING the warm sun and the smell of an autumn evening. The dogs were in the back of my pickup truck, and I was sitting upfront with the windows wide open. The parking lot was nearly empty and very quiet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man walking toward my truck and thought to myself, "What a beautiful evening for a stroll."

Then I heard, "Give me all your money." The man, whose breath was strong with alcohol, was now standing next to my open window. I tried to make light of his demand by smiling and saying that I'd "already spent my allowance." But pulling a claw hammer from his coat, he said, "Give me all your credit cards. If you don't, I'm going to kill you. The dogs, too." At that moment I felt concern and anger, as well as confusion about what to do next.

But it was the silence that suddenly took hold of my thinking that really stands out about that day not the anger or confusion I felt. Kind of like a familiar TV message: We now interrupt this program for an important message.