Park Excursion at Midnight

So...I have a funny story for you. All of the friends that I told it to, said I must write it down and get a good laugh out of my randomness.

The other day I decided I was finally going to clean out a box of letters and items collected from a past relationship with a guy I dated. I had kept the box out of hope, but on this day I finally decided it wasn't healthy to keep it any longer. I was rather upset still at this point because of the conversation I had had with him, so I grabbed the contents of the box, ran them through my shredder, then gathered what couldn't be recycled to trash. Urgency rose up in me, and eventhough it was 11:30 at night, I decided that the shreds must be recycled that evening and could not wait. So I grabbed the plastic tub of paper, a lighter, and one last important paper to burn as a symbol of letting go.

I drove to the nearest recycling bin at a park by my apartment. I grabbed the plastic tub of memory shards and quickly shook them into the dumpster, never to be seen again. Then I grabbed the last note, the piece I had placed the most hope in, and on another paper wrote a quick note of release, saying goodbye and writing I was trusting in the Lord. The two pieces of paper were sticky note size and very small, so as I lit them, it didn't take long for them to disintegrate. Unfortunately, as the final pieces were curling up and disappearing, I heard a car pull up in to the empty parking lot behind me.

I was kneeling next to the dumpster with my back to the car, so I slowly put the lighter down and turned around to see who it was. As I was turning, I noticed that a flashlight was shining on me as well. Yes, that's right, a police officer had driven up and was now shining a light on me as if I was a criminal hiding in an alley. I smiled in my most innocent way, saying hello, and waving to prove I didn't have any weapons and was, in fact, just a little girl, in the park, at midnight.

The car then pulled up beside me, and to my relief I noticed it was a woman officer. She asked me what I was doing, and I told her I was just putting away some recycling. Then, because I couldn't lie, told her I was also burning "one piece that couldn't be recycled". She looked at me like I was crazy and told me she didn't understand. Knowing that I couldn't get away without explaining why it was so important to burn this piece of paper, I quickly explained that it was a breakup, I didn't want to remember any of those letters, and that the last paper I had burned was a final symbolic gesture of moving on. I felt so silly saying it but figured the truth was better than acting guilty (and hoped since she was a woman, she would understand). She told me that I was not allowed to burn in the park, nodded as I said I was done and then drove slowly away, parking nearby to make sure I left. Laughing at myself and sighing with relief, I grabbed my items, placed them in my car, and drove off, passing her. She was running something on her computer, probably my license plate number.

What would she have found? Absolutely nothing. I don't have anything on my record at all, and she must have seen that. Maybe I even gave her a good laugh for the evening. I shook my head at myself as I drove away, knowing that the craziness and urgency I felt led me to my rash decision to burn in a public park, at midnight, when I in fact, design parks and know that that isn't allowed. Why did I think that was ok? Why was I so determined to have that last memory burned? Why was I so crazy? I don't know. Sometimes we all go to crazy lengths to get over someone. Apparently I can now say I know mine. :)

By the way, it's not the first time I had a crazy experience that involved a dumpster, but that is an entirely different story...