[tomwed]

Originally Posted by mickey100

Pulling weeds isn't suspicious activity.

No but " He was in his personal vehicle."

I don't know if he was wearing his Company Shirt. But I would. Don't you see it all the time in the movies whenever some team, good guys or bad guys want to blend in? You dress the part.

It's only an opinion, not meant to hurt anyones feelings or push any buttons.
sorry

[rubicon]

Too many people are using the term paranoid when what the caller did was out of precaution. Residents are warned continually to be cautious and on the look out to guard their and their neighbors property.

Because our society is so conditioned whenever the issue of race is drawn into a conversation it is always followed by racist from some.

In this case how can one describe the suspects without describing their age height sex color, etc. In that same light describing the year color and model of the vehicle one doesn't find that it is followed by see the guy hates Honda's"

I really feel sorry for contractors, vendors ,sales people etc who are taking the brut of all this because some in their employ are in violation here. but not let's forget we have a few residents who can be included in these horribles.

I know who cuts my lawn and I trust him. I trust the guy who helped me with my new HVAC. I trust my lawn and pest control guys. I trust the guy that does my overhead doors. I trust them because I made it my business to get to know them as people. But it is human nature or should be to trust but verify.

As I was leaving my house Tuesday to go out for lunch I noticed a Lawn Scaper and his passenger in a white pickup pulling his equipment behind him following me . I will admit I watched to see if he pulled from my street and then onto the next and then onto the next. I thought for a second that perhaps I should go around the roundabout and back to my home to check to see if all was good. I resisted that impulse

Its a crazy world out there today and the thought that some might violate my privacy is a chilling thought but for some an unfortunate reality

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by mickey100

Pulling weeds isn't suspicious activity.

When the Dean's girl comes to work on the lawn for pests in her Dean's truck she rings our doorbell and if we are not home leaves her card.

When Mike's Maintenance comes to our house in their Mike's Maintenance truck they get there big lawnmower out and their trimmer and start making a lot of noise.

When the Jehovah Witness comes to our neighborhood to try to save our souls, they are older people wearing what we used to wear to church in the 1950's and carry big notebooks and they ring the doorbell and sometimes we pretend not to be home and sometimes we take their handout and say thank you.

When the TandD Pool guy comes to our neighbors home, he comes in his TandD truck and wears his TandD shirt.

When the neighbor's house watch comes to the house they pull in the driveway and raise up the garage door and walk around the house first.

When the Post Office guy brings a big box which he does occasionally, he drives his USPS little mini-van and wears his USPS shirt and rings the doorbell.

When the UPS man comes to our house he drives a big brown truck and wears a brown uniform and rings the doorbell and is gone before we make it to the door.

When the neighbor's weeders come to weed and trim they drive their Stellar Van and carry little sprayers with weed killer and have a trimmer that has a loud motor.

I could not tell you whether any of these people are white, black, Asian, or Native born Eskimos, but I notice their sex and age.

I called Villages Watch one time when two strange to our neighborhood young men were walking in between the houses.

All I can say is that it was wise to do so.

[GPGuar]

Originally Posted by mickey100

Pulling weeds isn't suspicious activity.

No pulling weeds isn't suspicious BUT doing it around someones home when the owners aren't there seems a little strange to me.

[TheVillageChicken]

Originally Posted by mickey100

Pulling weeds isn't suspicious activity.

Opinion presented as fact.

[looneycat]

Originally Posted by GPGuar

No pulling weeds isn't suspicious BUT doing it around someones home when the owners aren't there seems a little strange to me.

especially in rainy season my gardener does drive bys to check for weeds and stops to spray when needed. He drives an unmarked pickup. A company van/truck doesn't mean much when most burglaries in TV have been contractors' current or ex employees, a name on the truck does NOT mean SAFE.

[Navarrian]

I am also equally curious if the police officers who responded to the suspicious persons report were black or white. I mean while we are at it right. I think it extremely odd that any landscaper would return to the worksite to evaluate his work. I've never seen that period. I guess I should be more sensitive and assess a person's race before reporting my suspicions about a prospective potential for criminal activity in my neighborhood. Is that what we have come to believe?

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by lynxville

Since when do two landscapers drive around looking for weeds on property they work on. Sounds fishy to me. No advertising on the car to attract new customers. No uniforms to identify who they are. To be perfectly honest I wonder how many people that service your pool, your yard, inside your home, case your place for future burglary? You tell the landscape company yes I'll be gone for 5 months, ding, ding, ding. There's a lesson in this that the landscaper should of had a uniform on to identify who he works for, a sign on the vehicle identifying the company. Not a professional way to run a business.

How do you know why the landscaper was there, anyway? It could be that the homeowner called in a complaint to the landscape office about the quality of work being done, and a supervisor or the company's owner went to check on the house? Maybe it's a snowbird whose home watch people said something about the yard. I agree with Bare. The guy went nowhere near the house, didn't peer in windows, etc., and somebody over reacted.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Navarrian

I am also equally curious if the police officers who responded to the suspicious persons report were black or white. I mean while we are at it right. I think it extremely odd that any landscaper would return to the worksite to evaluate his work. I've never seen that period. I guess I should be more sensitive and assess a person's race before reporting my suspicions about a prospective potential for criminal activity in my neighborhood. Is that what we have come to believe?

It's not odd at all to me. We've had landscape supervisors come check on things we've called about often. Just one person, and sometimes we are not at home.

[graciegirl]

If someone called something in that seemed suspicious and it turned out to be nothing, they are doing what Nehemiah Wolfe from the Sumter County Sheriff's office said to do. I think he is a remarkable man and I think the Sumter County Sheriff's Department does a good job.

[Bonny]

My hubby takes care of a lot of homes in the Villages when people aren't here. He also does a lot of work inside the homes when people aren't here. Some have called him and said they got a new landscaper and ask him to check it out. I happened to be with him one time when he went. He fixed something in the flower bed by the front window and pulled a few weeds they missed. He does this sort of thing all the time.
He has a lot of keys and garage openers. So he's always letting himself in.
After a while neighbors get to know who he is, but not when he first starts.
No one has ever called the police.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Bonny

My hubby takes care of a lot of homes in the Villages when people aren't here. He also does a lot of work inside the homes when people aren't here. Some have called him and said they got a new landscaper and ask him to check it out. I happened to be with him one time when he went. He fixed something in the flower bed by the front window and pulled a few weeds they missed. He does this sort of thing all the time.
He has a lot of keys and garage openers. So he's always letting himself in.
After a while neighbors get to know who he is, but not when he first starts.
No one has ever called the police.

Exactly what I'm talking about.

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by Bonny

My hubby takes care of a lot of homes in the Villages when people aren't here. He also does a lot of work inside the homes when people aren't here. Some have called him and said they got a new landscaper and ask him to check it out. I happened to be with him one time when he went. He fixed something in the flower bed by the front window and pulled a few weeds they missed. He does this sort of thing all the time.
He has a lot of keys and garage openers. So he's always letting himself in.
After a while neighbors get to know who he is, but not when he first starts.
No one has ever called the police.

I'm sorry but I'm missing your point.
If your husband looks like he's old enough to live here and dresses like everyone else that lives here, why would someone call the police?

Back in the day one of my closest friends was a chiropractor. He told me that in his profession there is a popular saying that goes:
“If you hear hoof beats don’t look for a zebra.”
I asked him to explain because as I just suggested I can be slow witted at times.

There are far more horses then there are zebras. So it’s probably a horses hoof beat.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by tomwed

I'm sorry but I'm missing your point.
If your husband looks like he's old enough to live here and dresses like everyone else that lives here, why would someone call the police?

Because he was pulling weeds and checking landscaping in an unmarked car! And who knows how old he is? She didn't say. Bonny looks pretty young to me in her avatar.

I get her point easily. Anybody can look like they live here, rich or poor, white or black. Just takes a trip to Goodwill. I still think it was an over reaction.

[MarkinMd]

I don't think it was an over reaction, but that's just my opinion. Just for arguments sake say it was an over reaction, no harm done. The landscaper got his feelings hurt. Next time, wear a uniform and have some markings on your vehicle. On the other hand suppose he was going to do a burglary. better safe than sorry.