From the Halls of Montezuma

And you could add to that - - The Embarrassed

I'm not sure why I thought of this . . . but I had a childhood memory come to my mind just now and it made me laugh out loud.   It involves my second oldest sister . . . and the United States Marine Corps.

I have three sisters - two older, one younger.  My second oldest sister (I'll call her Mahala), unlike me, was very social, very cute and very popular in high school, which really has nothing to do with this story but may help you to better visualize as you read.   We grew up in Southern California in a house right next to the Santa Ana Freeway (5).   It was separated from our backyard by a brick wall, and we were constantly hearing the swish swish swish of the cars driving by - and the occasional crash! bang! crunch!   This also has nothing to do with the story.    To the south of us were two Marine Corps bases - El Toro and Camp Pendleton, which will come into play later.

Mahala used to like to watch Hawaii Five-0, and she would stand on the table and pretend she was surfing as they played the theme song.   She was funny/crazy.  Still is.  In a good way.   Mahala also used to like to watch the Johnny Carson show, which came on at 11 p.m.  She would lay on the couch in the living room, watching Johnny and Ed for a few minutes and then usually fall asleep.   In front of the couch was a coffee table (the Five-0 dancing table).

In my bedroom was a rather large window (almost as large as a sliding glass door, but not really).    And it faced the driveway, which you could see from the street.   And now that I think about it, how creepy is that?   People could probably look in my room anytime they wanted.   Eewwww.    Anyway, I was sleeping soundly and all of a sudden I was awakened by my sister running into my room screaming!    And as I sat up in bed, I saw a figure running past my bedroom window toward the street.   Holy cow!!!   Needless to say, I was scared . . . and Mahala was even more scared.  I'm sure we got our parents, but I can't really remember.

This is what happened.   Mahala fell asleep on the couch in her usual fashion.   The TV was on, the front door was locked.   Mahala was changing positions and her arm flopped over onto the floor.   Or, what would have been the floor if there wasn't a man asleep in between the couch and the coffee table to break the fall of her arm!!!   She felt the man, immediately jumped up (I'm sure her eyes were bulging and her face white) and came running into my bedroom.  (I don't know why she didn't run into my parents' bedroom).  We heard the front door slam.  The figure I saw running outside my bedroom window - - of course, the sleeping man.  Although he was wide awake now and he was bookin!     

What we found out the next morning . . . the front door obviously was not locked.   Okay.  Note to self - - double, triple check all the doors before you go to bed.   The sleeping man on the floor?   Actually a sleeping 21 year old Marine who drunkenly entered the wrong home.   He was stationed at one of the Marine bases and was visiting a friend who actually lived down the street from us.   Said Marine had been out drinking and I guess all the houses look the same when you're drunk.  He thought he picked the right house.  Wrong.   When my sister's hand came down on him, it SCARED HIM TO DEATH!!!   He went running out of our house and apparently found the right house this time (nothing like a good scare to sober you up!).   He was way more scared than my sister, and very embarrassed and apologetic in the morning.   We never saw him again!

Moral of the story? - - I'm not sure.   Lock your doors at night.   Don't get drunk.  Sleep in your own bed.  

But thinking about it again this morning just made me shake my head and laugh.