My meter reader dad and the cult

My dad has been a meter reader at a gas company for 25+ years. In my entire life, he has never had an incident, and this was the one time he JUST missed being done with his rounds for the day.<br><br>Traumatic- meters are often at the back of the house, so meter readers are usually alone for a few minutes at time. Not to mention meters are usually in the shade, away from the street. You can imagine how easy it is for someone to hide behind a fence or bush and wait for a meter reader to be distracted.<br><br>One day not so long ago, a meter reader for our gas company was doing his rounds in a rural area where meters are spaced out. On this particular street, the homes are so spread out that people don’t even know who their neighbors are. There was an elderly lady home at one of the houses, and she called our dispatch office to report a tapping at her door. When she looked out of her peephole, it was a meter reader in full uniform, but she didn’t schedule an appointment for her gas to be read and she didn’t think her bill was that high.<br><br>She called our dispatch to verify whether a meter reader was scheduled to come to her house. When dispatch checked her account, no one was assigned to read her meter. Our dispatch is very good at sending out fraud alerts to customers. They told the lady to call the police, as this person was likely an imposter.<br><br>When police arrived, they had to search for the imposter meter reader. Let me paint the picture of how hard that is. Like I said, these houses are way spread out and there’s lots of trees/bushes- perfect areas to hide. I’m sure it was very hard for the police to find him. They eventually found him because he had JUST started walking towards another house that was assigned to be read. Essentially, they caught him right on time, because my dad had JUST finished reading the gas meter there. Talk about a close call. I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened if he had gotten to my dad when he was distracted. They never found out who he was or what his intentions were. He remains at large, and his true identity is unknown. My dad could’ve been a completely different story. Dad- I don’t know what would’ve happened if that meter reader got to you and I wouldn’t have been able to see you again. I’m so glad you weren’t there. Meter reader- let’s not meet.