So I had to call the police last night... on my mother in law.
Every Sunday, since my father in law passed last year, my wife and kids have done Skype calls with my mother in law. With the winter "storm" bearing down on Williamsburg, my wife was concerned about her mom and was looking forward to their usual Sunday chat. But her mom didn't answer her phone. Didn't respond to texts. Wasn't signed on to Skype. Starting to worry in the afternoon, my wife reached out to her brother, who also lives in Williamsburg and ~assists their mother. No response to texts or calls or emails - total radio silence from Williamsburg through the evening.
Of course my wife starts looking at the news, seeing reports of the usual pile-ups that occur in the area when there's winter precipitation, which worries her even more. By bed time, my wife still hasn't heard anything and she's visibly trembling with worry. I ask her what she wants to do about it. She doesn't know what to do. She'd rather know nothing and worry than do something and possibly hear bad, bad news. She decides to take a shower and try to get some sleep.
I knew that she would never be able to sleep, so while she was in the shower, I called non-emergency police dispatch in Williamsburg. With a large retirement community, I got the feeling that these kinds of calls weren't unusual. 10 minutes later, I got a return call from a police officer, letting me know that he'd been to the house and had spoken with my mother in law and brother in law, and that everything was a-okay. 30 seconds later, the in-laws called my wife. My elderly mother in law didn't know why her phone never rang and didn't want to bother my wife if we were busy, standing Sunday Skype call notwithstanding. The slovenly brother in law? Oh, his phone was upstairs all day, and he was downstairs, probably watching TV