Honest Mistake That Could Have Been Tragic!

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Funny thing happened three days ago: I responded to an ad in the Houston Greensheet and set out to meet a homeowner at 7007 Whitewater lane (street names are fictitious). The elderly party I was to meet told me to come to 7007 Whitewater, go around to the side to an open gate waiting for me and then come in the back door also waiting for me. I called Houston metro for bus information and was told to take x bus to Freedom street, go West and turn South on third street named Anise and 7000 block of Whitewater lane will be the second street. I took x bus to Freedom street, headed West and turned South on fifth street named Anise. When I could not locate Whitewater lane three streets from Anise, I walked up to a man standing outside and asked where Whitewater lane was. The man pulled his cell phone and looked up Whitewater and told me Whitewater lane was North not south of Freedom street. So, I made a u-turn and headed North back to Freedom street. When I could not locate Whitewater lane 2 streets North past Freedom street, I went asking for directions from a homeowner. "Oh, you were to go South from Freedom street and then cross the ravine: 7000 White(something) is on the other side of the ravine." So, I made another u-turn, crossed the ravine and headed South looking for Whitewater lane. About 2 streets past Freedom street, I saw a street named Whitewood and, probably due to tiredness from walking in the heat of Houston, thought I might have heard the homeowner wrongly and the street I was to look for is Whitewood. I walked to 7007 Whitewood, went right straight to the side and through the open gate and then through an open back door. "Is anybody home? George, it's Netsbridge! I am here!" A forties looking woman, followed by a smiling 3-year old and an older male, emerged with a look of horror on her face. "There is no George here!" she said trembling. "There is no George here?" I asked very friendly. "I am supposed to meet a George at 7007 Whitesomething lane. This is Whitewood lane; is there a Whitewater lane around here?" All this time, the 3-year old is in front of the mother and smiling at me, while the older male just stood staring. "Yes!" the woman said with a sigh of relief. "Oh, people mistake the 2 streets all the time." "I am sorry," I said. "Would you believe that I actually assumed I was at the right place because everything is as I was to meet at 7007 Whitewater lane? You know, you ought to at least lock your back door." "Thanks! I will do that. Whitewater is the next street South." "Thank you!" I said and walked out. About 30 minutes later and returning from my successful meeting with George at 7007 Whitewater lane, I ran into the lady at 7007 Whitewood. "Hi, Netsbridge! Did you find George?" the lady asked. "Yes, thank you! And sorry about the unusually incident. I am so thankful that you are not a gun-toting, trigger-happy republican!" "How far are you going? I don't mind dropping you" asked the laughing lady. "Oh, just a block to the bus stop. Thanks, anyway." In the past few years, we had a homeowner in the Houston metropolitan area shoot and kill a man fleeing from assailants to safety to his house. Several months ago, a woman shut and killed a drunk who had come to the back door of her house and was attempting to let himself in with a key. The woman was recorded talking to the police and you could hear the determined drunk slurring in the background. While the fleeing man's story was so unfortunate, I equally never believed that the drunk meant the woman any harm: I actually had believed that the drunk had simply made an honest mistake in his drunken state. And I bet that if the people at 7007 Whitewood lane had been trigger-happy republicans, I probably would be dead for simply making an honest mistake! While I believe in self-defense, I am often concerned about people who would just shoot at people even if not threatened physically or when not in danger. Please, before you ever shoot at someone, make sure that you are in immediate danger and had no other alternative! Three days ago I made an honest mistake that could have resulted in tragedy, had the homeowners been trigger-happy folks! Humans often make mistakes.