| I was the repo man, and they were the angry | | | | if we tried to pull it out. He decided we had to go |
| mob. I was earning my fifteen dollars on that | | | | inside and ask the owner for the keys. We found |
| night. | | | | the man at the bar, and he pretended not to hear |
| "He's the repo man," the father said to his son. | | | | a word we said. He just stared at his drink. |
| "But why is he taking our car, daddy?" the little | | | | Everyone else heard us, though, and they were all |
| boy asked. His mother was digging out the last of | | | | his friends. |
| the clothing that was frozen to the floor of the | | | | A crowd began to form as Jason hooked up to |
| trunk. | | | | the car. They made rude comments and watched |
| "Well son, we didn't make the payments, and | | | | us, but then, as the car was pulled out, it did hit |
| when you can't pay for it, you don't get to keep | | | | the wall, and the turn-signal light cover was |
| it," he patiently explained. I took the keys from | | | | broken. The crowd went wild, yelling and |
| him. I took the car instead of hooking it up, and | | | | threatening us. Unfortunately, we had to stop |
| my brother, Jason (who owned the towing | | | | right there to hook the car up properly. |
| business) drove his tow truck, so it would be | | | | I grabbed my baseball bat and ran into the bar to |
| ready for the next repossession. The little boy | | | | call the police. Afterwards, I ran back out, waving |
| stood in the yard and watched as the repo man | | | | the bat around. By this time, Jason was on top of |
| drove away in the family car. | | | | the tow truck, with the angry mob circling below |
| I don't remember exactly, but they probably | | | | him. Someone had thrown a beer bottle, and we |
| owed less than a thousand on the car. It was | | | | would later discover that in the chaos my brother |
| worth even less than what they owed. I had to | | | | lost a toolbox full of expensive tools. |
| stop occasionally to use snow to clean the | | | | The police arrived quickly, and added threw their |
| windshield - the wipers were broken. I wish all our | | | | own insults our way (nobody likes a repo man), |
| repossessions went this smoothly. | | | | but they kept the mob at bay while we hooked |
| A Scarier Repo Man Story | | | | up. At least there was no fist fight, and nobody |
| Later that month we were in a small town to | | | | pulled a gun on us, or fired shots over our heads. |
| take some Pontiac. We cruised behind a couple of | | | | These three things would happen on later jobs. |
| the bars in town - generally a good place to look. | | | | Jason never was paid enough for the work, and |
| At the second bar, we found our car, and | | | | he gave me just $15 per car retrieved (this was |
| checked the VIN (vehicle identification number) to | | | | almost 20 years ago). I think in our best night we |
| be sure. We didn't have keys for this one, so we | | | | repossessed four cars. Moral of the story? There |
| would have to tow it. | | | | are better ways to make a living than being a |
| Unfortunately, the wheels were turned slightly, | | | | repo man. |
| and Jason decided it would likely hit the brick wall | | | | |