Barrels and barrels of "fun"?

Good evening to the millions of anticapating and faithful readers out there. I'm doing this, the next post, as a gesture of sympathy to ya'll. I don't want ya'll glued to your computers any longer than is necessary, so here it is.
As I sat tonight, in deep thought, I recalled an incident from years gone by that is amusing. At least it is now. At the time it wasn't funny at all. Well......maybe just a little bit. A bit of a disclaimer at this juncture. The only involvement I had in this is the foreknowledge of it's transpiration. Actually it was a two part event. I'll start with the car wreck. At the high school we attended, after all had departed every afternoon, a thick cable was stretched across the road and locked. In the middle of the cable was a very large sign that was painted red with the word "STOP" painted on it in reflective white paint. A friend of mine, on impulse, decided to play some pranks. So he removed the sign from the cable. A classmate, not necessarily a friend, after dark saw the the sign wasn't in place and decided to drive into the parking lot and do tailspins on the gravel parking lot. (which was the reason for the cable and sign). Thinking, perhaps because he didn't see the sign, that the cable wasn't in place He headed at a rather high rate of speed into the parking lot. He hit the cable at about 60 miles per hour, at which point his car stopped in approximately 2 feet. He didn't. (stop that is) HE continued at about the same speed, at least until he hit the dash. At that point he did, indeed, stop. I was at home when the afore events transpired. Mike (my friend) having heard the resulting sound ran back the scene and immediately went to a phone and called me. The purpose of his call was two fold. First, he wanted me to come see the results of his caper. Second, but most importantly, he wanted me to supply him with an alibi (which I did after some negotiatations). Phase two of the operation was, the same night, he hoisted a fifty five gallon barrel up the vacant flagpole. After the excitement created by the car incident, he quite naturally forgot about the barrel until the next morning. That next eventful morning we heard a commotion consisting of a loud bang, the running of feet then loud yelling. It seemed that our principle, having arrived at his usual time and parking in his usual spot (under the flagpole) had failed to notice the impending barrel hovering over his car. Right on que, a couple of seventh grade boys went to perform the ritual of hoisting Old Glory up the flag pole for the day. Having arrived at the base of the flagpole and discovering the barrel high on said flagpole, they began a discussion on the best way to remove said barrel. Loosing the rope they began to lower the barrel, but as the rope slipped through their hands and began to burn they did what any young boy would do. They let go. The barrel fell bout 30 or so feet and, yes, hit the hood of the principle's car. Needless to say the barrel knocked a hole in the hood. The seventh graders, after collecting their wits (or at least what was left of them) began the slow and painful task of finding Mr. Hudson (the principle) and relating to him what had transpired. Already in a foul mood because of the car incident, he almost exploded. There was even talk, at least for a little while, of a reward being posted for the apprehension of the culprut, but it was never acutally posted. Besides, Mike and I were the only ones that knew and I knew if I told anyone I'd be assumed guilty also. So, I took the most logical course and kept my mouth shut, at least until now. .........and so it went..........