A library book about Aaron Burr, a gift box holding some baby clothes, and a signed copy of a book about WWII pilots. What do they have in common? They are all difficult to replace and they were all stolen from the trunk of my dad's car.
My dad and stepmom came to visit for a long weekend and were staying at a nearby hotel -- a nice hotel in a safe area. We had a lovely visit including trips to museums and a mansion house, and a fun dinner with some friends.
On Saturday, my dad put two paper grocery bags in the trunk of his car. One held a present and some cards for my sister and her family (he was kindly bringing some gifts to her for me). He had also put his library book and a book he had bought into the bag with them. The other bag had some groceries they had bought to snack on at the hotel or on the ride home.
Both my husband and I saw my dad take the bags out to his car. They were going to bring the bags into the hotel that night, but left them in the trunk instead. Sunday night, when they went back to the hotel, they decided to bring the bags in. They opened the trunk and the bags were gone!
They searched the trunk and the rest of the car. They were fairly certain they hadn't brought them into the hotel, but searched their room just in case. They called me and confirmed that we had seen them put the bags in the trunk. The bags were simply gone.
The hotel insisted on calling the police. There was no sign of a break-in, so it was concluded that the trunk must not have been completely latched shut. It had probably been an inch or so open and someone had walked by and helped themselves to the bags inside.
The police filed an incident report and the hotel kept my phone number in case any of the items happened to turn up in the hotel, but there's little else that can be done. The stolen items probably totaled around $100 or so -- not including the time and trouble it takes to replace them.
It isn't losing the items themselves that is so galling, but the principle of it. What makes a person think that they have the right to take things that clearly do not belong to them?
The thief probably didn't even know what was in the bags. I hope whoever took them feels guilty when they open the present and realize that they have stolen a gift for a newborn baby (of course they probably won't). And I suspect the books about Aaron Burr and the WWII pilots may just end up in the trash somewhere.
I'm not sure whether this sort of thing makes me more angry or sad. Given the circumstances, I'm fairly certain that the thief wasn't planning on stealing, but came across the opportunity and just decided to take what was left in the open.
It's upsetting that we live in a world where some people have so little regard for others that they would feel justified to steal just because a car trunk was accidentally left ajar.
0 comments:
Post a Comment