Police Blotter

Every year Abilene Christian University [College when I was there] has a musical revue called Spring Sing. In 1966, curfew for dorm dwellers was 11:00 p.m., except on special occasions such as Spring Sing when it was changed to midnight.

A group of us freshmen boys who didn't have dates went back to the dorm after the event. While sitting around talking, we devised a plan to have some fun, and, perhaps, mess up the final make-out minutes of those who did have dates.
We gathered the necessary props for our little drama: a white cane, a pair of sunglasses, and a blanket.

About 11:45 we piled into a car with our props and drove to the street where the two girls dorms housing the most socially elite were located. If memory serves, it was Danny [remember Danny?] who was the designated blind man. We let him out, and he hid between two parallel parked cars. We drove slowly around the block, and turned back onto the street at 11:55. The goody two-shoes were standing around the front doors of the dorms, while those with a normal hormone level were still in cars trying to eke out as many final hugs and kisses as possible. Just before we got to the gap where Danny was crouched, the driver stomped the brakes, screeching the tires. I was sitting in the passenger seat and, as the car came to a stop, I slapped my hand loudly against the outside of the door. Danny jumped out with the shades askew on his face and laid down in front of the car, dropping the white cane to his side. We all scrambled out of the car, acting panicked. I bent over him, then looked up and yelled, "Call 911. Does anyone have a blanket?" The driver said he had one in the trunk, and promptly retrieved it. Danny lay silent and motionless. We covered him with the blanket and hovered around him so that others couldn't get too close. People came down from the dorm steps. People came out of their cars. Within a few minutes, a crowd had gathered, completely filling the street. Per our plan, I leaned over and whispered in Danny's ear, "One, two, three." He sat up, then sprang to his feet. We gathered the blanket and cane, got back into the car, and drove away through the parting crowd.

As we pulled back into the parking lot of our dorm, we heard sirens coming up the hill toward the school. And in the next day's newspaper, the event was listed in the police blotter.