The following misadventure was passed on to me by the late Sheriff Frank Powell, who had a definite flair for humor.

You’ve heard the old saying, "Crime does not pay." To that some add, "True, crime doesn’t pay, but the hours are good." Well, now there’s another comment: "Crime hurts!"

Such is the case for a young man named Dewey who enters a motel lobby late one night with evil thoughts on his mind. The night clerk, a young woman named Maria, is on duty.

Dewey pushes a one dollar bill across the counter and asks the clerk if she’ll give him change. At that moment there’s a buzz from one of the rooms and Maria turns.

While Maria’s back is turned, Dewey pulls out a gun and announces, "This is a holdup — gimme all the money."

Maria is instantly upset. "It’s not just the gun," she later tells deputies. "It’s the whole idea of the thing. I mean, he has no right to point a gun at me, does he?"

These thoughts cross Maria’s mind in the same instant as Dewey reaches into the cash drawer to help himself to the motel’s money.

"Don’t you dare do that — get your hand out of my register!" Maria screams. With that she slams the cash drawer shut, catching Dewey’s pinky in the process.

Dewey yells out in pain and begins blowing on his little finger and fanning it with the gun. Apparently he thinks that will make it stop hurting. Then the so-called gunman turns and runs out the door.

A split-second later Maria realizes the gunman left his dollar bill on the counter. "Hey, Mister," she calls out. "You forgot your money." But, alas, Dewey is gone. Too bad he didn’t learn something from that encounter. A week later he is killed during the robbery of a liquor store by the owner who always keeps a double-barreled shotgun under the counter.