The Sonic BOOMER

My uncle owned a motorcycle store in Broward back when Fort Lauderdale was the exotic vacation destination for college-age spring breakers. This was before Cancun, Cabo San Lucas and Jamaica took over. Back when I was in college, a lot of kids like me paid their own tuition and, therefore, sought out a sunny location that met their primary requirement of being within hitchhiking range.

I didn’t hitchhike to Fort Lauderdale but saved up for two years so I could fly. My cost-saving plan was to take off on a wing and a prayer with a 21-year-old, first-time pilot, who had tacked an index card onto the campus bulletin board. It would be him, two of his friends, two more strangers and me.

Long story short? The weather was so horrific that the control tower sent us out over the gulf so that our inevitable crash wouldn’t be into houses. I may have had a near-death experience before we landed. And then, even though he’d taken my round-trip airfare, the pilot “ran out of money” and re-sold my seat, leaving Florida early without me. Fun times.

But you know, kids. Resilient. I had a place to stay (my uncle’s), so I figured I’d get my refund when I got back to Milwaukee. No sweat. Also, no refund.

But we must return to my story after that 100-word essay detour to What-I-Did-On-My-College-Spring-Break Land.

My uncle owned a motorcycle shop. And, because of that, our family was into motorcycles. Both my brothers became absolute fanatics after working for him a few summers, and even I had a bright yellow 60 cc scooter.

My youngest brother (rapidly approaching retirement age) currently owns a paint and body shop where he has pre-painted more than 30 motorcycle gas tanks in preparation for the idyllic gear-head decades stretching ahead of him. He can’t wait.

My other brother Jim (an unsung creative genius) took a full-size Triumph cycle, “sliced” it in half horizontally with a piece of tempered glass and turned it into a coffee table. As a bonus, there was a one-of-a-kind table lamp which revved to life when you pressed down on the accelerator.

My two brothers displayed these companion pieces of art in a Wisconsin bar during a cycle show, and Jim was immediately offered $30,000 for the set on opening day ($50,000 in today’s money). However, because he’s an artist, he turned that down because “they’re not really for sale” and “anyway, no one has seen them yet.” This museum-quality mentality almost cost him a divorce, in addition to 30 grand.

As for me, I had a great time on my scooter. I didn’t give it up until I flopped my helmet onto my ob/gyn’s examination table at eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and he gently suggested I garage the bike for a while. I ended up selling it because (as he already knew, and I didn’t), it’s not really safe to cram an infant into a wire basket and take off.

Sometimes it’s hard being a girl.

Florida animal control officials are warning owners of lost pets that they may be targeted by a scam that preys on their desperation to find their missing companions.

The Palm Beach County Department of Public Safety’s Animal Care and Control division (PCB ACC) alerted pet owners to the scam in a Facebook post on Tuesday. The scheme apparently involves phone calls that fraudulently attempt to convince locals that their lost pets have been found while demanding money for their safe return.

Scammers target the owners of missing pets somewhat frequently. Those who publicly share details about their lost pets and contact information online are particularly vulnerable.

“It has come to our attention that scammers are targeting owners of lost pets,” the post reads. “Someone is representing themselves as an employee of our shelter and trying to collect money. PBC ACC will never and ask for money over the phone.”

“Please do not transfer funds or share account/credit card numbers with anyone representing themselves as us,” it continues. “If you have a lost pet, please post your pet on our SNAP website and continue to check the website daily.”

In an additional Facebook post, public safety officials said that the targeted victims of the scam were “community members who post their information on lost pet websites” before receiving “calls from someone identifying themselves as an employee of ACC.”

Local ABC affiliate WPBF reported that some victims were targeted after sharing lost pet posts on the app Nextdoor. Scammers also reportedly targeted those who made similar posts on the Pawboost and Petco Love Lost websites and the Loxahatchee Lost and Found Facebook page.

Newsweek reached out for comment to PBC ACC via online contact form and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office via email on Wednesday night.

Palm Beach County’s “SNAP” website hosts a large number of listings for lost and found pets, primarily cats and dogs, alongside photos of the missing animals. The site also features a section listing unclaimed pets that have an “urgent” need for adoption.

Officials in Wake County, North Carolina, issued a similar scam alert last month, informing locals that someone was calling those with missing pets while claiming to be an employee of the Wake County Animal Center and demanding money for urgent pet surgery, according to The News & Observer.

Newsweek previously reported on a woman who said that she was targeted by a scammer who contacted her with claims of having found her missing husky. When she refused to pay $400 for the dog’s return, the scammer tried to extract money from the woman, who is straight, by threatening to expose an affair to her non-existent wife.