(bell-ringer)

On my way home from work last night, I came across a car parked with its headlights on. Having worked around automobiles, I immediately thought: leaving headlights on --> drain on battery --> failure to start car engine.

So, way past midnight, I proceeded to ring the bell in hopes of the car's owner realising that he/she could avert a potential disaster (and a hefty insurance bill) by getting out of the comforts of his/her bed and turn the headlights off. The front porch light was left on, so I assumed that the residents would be home. I ended up spending ten awkward minutes ringing bells desperately to no avail, and in the end decided to give notice to the next-door neighbour instead. Thankfully, he responded immediately. Only after I notified him and continued walking back home for another hundred metres did I hear locked doors being opened.

...these bring me to a few questions:
- why does it take people so long to respond?
- can a past-midnight bell-ringer with a chirpy girl's voice be possibly a potential mugger?
- in case of the headlights being left on, will the car's battery actually be dead by the morning?
- is it even a common practice to notify neighbour of a potential snafu?

Well, besides that, I don't have much else to say... other than "the streets sparkle and become icy when it's frosty". Seriously. I would never know had I lived only in Central.