welcome to the neighborhood

Allow me to reenact a conversation I had with my mother this afternoon.

SCENE:
My parents are driving in from Louisiana to spend the summer with me to fix up the house. They have made it into L.A. and are driving up to the new house. This is the first time they see the house, neighborhood, etc. I am in my office at work, parents are in their truck with trailer in tow.

ME: Hey, where are you?
MOM: Oh, I think we took a wrong turn, we're on the college campus.
(aside: there is a college campus near my neighborhood.)
ME: No worries, let me pull up a map online and guide you to the house.
... directions occur...
MOM: Turn on (street name)? Oh, I see it!
...pause...
MOM: Oh, it's blocked. I think there's a police raid.
ME: What!?
MOM: There are cops everywhere.
ME: WHAT!?
MOM: Yeah, they have their guns drawn and everything. That guy has a machine gun.
...freak pause...
MOM: Oh, wait... I see a sign... oh, it says "police training in progress."

And that, my friends, is how my parents were introduced to my new neighborhood.