We also tell them about the time some thieves came into the house through a window and stole a bunch of electronics. A shadowy figure was seen going down the fire escape and driving off in a white car. Afterwards, we heard that the neighbors had also been burgled, and some people went over to compare notes. Somehow, one of us got separated from the group and spotted a white car lurking down the street. She went over to get the license plate, but scooted off when the people in the car yelled at her. Not realizing that she had circled the block to mislead the guys in the car, we just heard shouting and then saw a white car driving away really fast, and feared that the burglars had actually kidnapped our friend. We went back to the house and called the police, who arrived to find that (1) the missing person had turned up (2) with the license plate of the suspicious car (3) the rather thick burglars had actually returned and were again lurking on the street (4) there were a bunch of electronics in the trunk of their car. Nowadays, you would just have phoned the police on your cell phone once you'd spotted a suspicious car, or maybe take a picture of the license plate with your camera phone. At the least, you could try calling your friend who had disappeared instead of panicking.