Scuba Sam

I mentioned in my race report that a very strange and exciting thing happened at my parents home while they were away and because it's such a great story, I feel like I really need to share it. My parents asked my brothers if they would house sit and watch the dogs while they were in St. George. This is not an unusual occurrence and was really no big deal.

On Saturday, after the race, my dad got a phone call from Travis asking him if he had asked anyone else to stay at the house and my dad said, "No, why?" Apparently, there was someone in the shower and Travis thought it might be Karen (his sister-in-law). So, he called Eric and Karen to see if they were there, but they were at home. I should also mention that when Travis came in the house, the lights and radio were on, the microwave was open, the washer and dryer were running and the french doors were open. Travis decided to call the police and here is where the story starts to get good.

When Eric and Karen arrived, Karen marched into the bathroom, noticed the big huge jetted tub was running, the lights were off, and there was a man in the shower. She told him to get out of the shower and that he wasn't supposed to be in the house. He said something like, "You get out. This is my house." Karen got all of his laundry out of the washer and dryer and told him that he needed to get dressed and get out.

At this point, the police arrived. They came inside, told the guy to get out of the shower or they were going to taze (sp?) him, and that he needed to get on the floor. Did I mention that when he got out of the shower he had a headlamp on? Yes...he actually had a headlamp on in the shower. Go ahead and laugh. I am... They had a difficult time getting him handcuffed because he followed their instructions too well. For example, they told him to get on his stomach and he said he couldn't because they told him not to move.

Well, they finally got him dressed and started talking to him. They asked him why he was wearing a headlamp in the shower and he told them it was because he was scuba diving. Yes...apparently, he was scuba diving in my parents bathroom, which is so awesome! Who knew?!? He spent the night in their house. He told the police that he was training the dogs. He ate their food and left the honey in the fridge. He used their washer and dryer. He ran the big huge jetted tub and drenched the entire bathroom, including the remote for the bathroom tv. (Yes, my parents have a tv in the bathroom...which gives a whole new meaning to spending time on the throne.) H used their computer to print off coupons and recipes. He ate a cantaloupe like an apple, including the peel and left the core (do cantaloupes have cores?) in the sink. He also left a fingerprint in the butter.

The good news is that there was no damage. He left all of the guns alone, even though the gun safe was wide open. (Nice one Eric!) He didn't steal anything; although, there is a headlamp missing. The dogs were a little weirded out, but survived and proved that they are certainly not very good guard dogs.

So, the story behind this man is something like this... Apparently, his name is Sam and he has schizophrenia and is also bipolar. He was off his meds and had "escaped" from his parents' home. He has done this before and so he gets to spend some time in the psych ward, as well as three months in the state mental hospital. My mom was totally freaked out. My dad and I thought the whole thing was hysterical and couldn't wait to tell the story. In fact, we got to tell the story a couple of times that day. Nothing was hurt and mostly we all just feel very sad for this poor man who is struggling in his battle with mental illness.

Still...it is incredibly funny to think of a man showering with a headlamp on who thought he was scuba diving. In fact, I'm totally giggling about it right now as I type this. I guess this means that Scuba Sam has just become a family legend.