When I was at an age where stupid things were done almost daily, my brother and I were grateful when we didn’t get caught.

But at times, we did. One instance stands out.

While we lived in California, my brother and I were wandering around the apartment complex looking for something to do.

At the back of the building, we came across a group of kids sitting on the top of a wooden privacy fence throwing balls of dirt into a pool on the other side.

It wasn’t exactly destructive, so for some reason my brother and I joined in.

After getting our perch and a ball of dirt, we threw literally two projectiles into the clear blue water before a police officer pulled up.

All of the other kids fled, except Zach and I.

The police officer pulled us aside, politely told us why what we were doing was wrong, and told us to go home and tell our parents what we had done.

The thought crossed our minds to just keep the event to ourselves, but we fessed up, and it was a good thing we did.

After receiving our spanking, our mother walked us to the grocery store nearby to do some shopping.

As we got closer to the store, there he was, the officer we saw earlier that day.

And as expected, he asked our mom if we had told her what happened.

Fortunately we did, because the spanking we would have received had we not would have been much worse than the one we already got.

I never had to admit I was in trouble with the police to my mother again after that.

Today, I wrote a story about a group of kids who did something they probably wish they had not.

And due to the technology around us today, they got caught.

It’s my hope they too learn a lesson, and put their energy to better use.