THE THIEVES AMONG US

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Last Saturday I made a quick trip to Safeway to pick up dessert for Easter dinner at my daughter’s house. As I left with my groceries in tow, I was thankful I had the cart to help me walk as I was feeling my age. Seems to happen a lot lately. I deposited my bag in the car, threw my purse in the back seat, and headed for the cart rack a few steps away.  My lesson learned for that day? DON’T LEAVE YOUR CAR UNLOCKED even for the short walk to return the cart.  I should have known better. I know now.  I saw this woman sitting in a car nearby eating a sandwich. As I turned back to my car, I noticed my back door wasn’t shut tight, and I knew I had shut it. The lady took off quickly. I knew what had happened and I was sick. My purse was gone and I quickly made note of her license.  I said it over and over as I returned to the store to call the police. I didn’t recall it exactly right as the dispatcher said it wasn’t valid.  Well, I got some of it, I think. And I saw the woman and I know her car. And I intend to track her down.  I’m retired and have gas money. Gonna prowl parking lots of Safeway, Goodwill, Dollar Tree, Walmart, Food bank, and any place else that comes to mind.  Might take me a while but I’ve got time, and I’m really ticked off now.

I lost around $80, give or take.   That ought to buy her some drugs. You know it’s drugs.  While I waited for the cop to arrive, I realized the scumbag also got my cell phone.  That’s been the hardest part. I asked a couple people if I could borrow their cell to call my daughter, first two said no. I probably looked like a bag lady.  The third woman agreed but the call wouldn’t go through and I realized my daughter must have finally got rid of her landline phone. I don’t have a clue what anybody’s cell phone number is as I’m programmed to just pull up their name on the screen.

Anyhow, I drove on home slowly, still shaking like a leaf but I hadn’t cried yet.  I turned right on a red light because nothing was coming.  I’m sure that guy was barreling down the road over the speed limit because next thing I knew, a large pickup truck was on my bumper and he laid on his horn for a good block!   Continued to tailgate me for a couple miles, screeching his tires whenever I made a turn.  I felt bad that I had apparently pulled out in front of him but his aggressive behavior wasn’t scaring me – it was making me madder!  I planned to drive to my daughter’s house instead of my place and was totally prepared to get out and tell him what he could do with his horn and indignation!  He turned off a block before I got there, and I was kind of disappointed I didn’t get the chance to scream at someone.

Yesterday I started working on the list of things you need to do when you’ve been robbed. Cancelling credit cards was first. My daughter works for T-mobile so she is sending me her old phone. I even emailed the library to cancel my card.  Who’s to say they wouldn’t check out an armload of movies and books.  Today I’ll hit the DMV to get my license. Couldn’t do it online as they require a credit card.  Yesterday morning I went to the Social Security office to replace my Medicare card.    As I got out of my car, I hoped that my 9:05 arrival would put me at the front of the line. I saw a couple with a small child walking towards the office too and she picked up speed and left the guy to walk slower.  I knew she was trying to beat me there but I was okay with that.  I was surprised to see a cop sitting in the office and he gave me a number indicating my place in line. There were already four people ahead of me. It took me an hour and a half to get out of there.  The first two people took a half hour each.  One elderly woman, who I thought was going to fall over she was having such a hard time walking, sat down and found out she needed her driver’s license to proceed with whatever she was wanting to do.  She got up and cussed loudly all the way to the door.  Meanwhile, all twenty chairs lined up along the wall, were taken.  I started visiting with the woman next to me and found out she was from Port Townsend and lived in the same apartment house my sister does.  We talked about everything from the high cost of medical insurance, not being able to afford a dentist, family history, and how much I hate what cable charges for Internet. The lady on the other side of her joined our conversation and took my email address to write me about who else I can use for internet with cheaper prices. I sure hope I hear from her.  Pretty soon this tall thin kid in his twenties walked in, saw there were no chairs, and sat down like a gymnast with ankles and legs crossed. He had his music plugged in and was directly in front of me on the floor.  He was dressed in black from head to toe including hat, gloves, and sunglasses. He was a strange character. He put his palms up on his knees like he was meditating; then he asked loudly to the row of chairs, who had the number before him and would they trade with him because all he needed to do was hand in his pay stubs. The internet lady told him no, and he said that was fine.  He took an envelope out of his bag and ripped it in half while trying to open it with gloves on.  Inside was two pages printed with his earned wages.  He borrowed tape from the cop to put them back together.

A few folks looked homeless. One guy just walked out with his plastic bag of food dripping all over the carpet. They’re a ONE-WINDOW office (I hear because of budget cuts) although this second woman came out from a back room a couple times to walk down the aisle.  The last time she came out, her job was to retrieve all the tickets we were given upon arrival so she could hand us a ticket with a new number. What a waste of money. The least she could have done was open the second window and  help those sitting there. I feel bad for anybody who has to visit that place. Their office closes at noon.  If you’re still in line, you’re out of luck. That’s just not right. I finally got to the window and it only took me one minute to conduct my business. I’m sure the people behind me were happy about that.

I came home to wait for Sears to deliver my new stove. It died a few days earlier. Then the locksmith arrived. That cost me $103. He told me he was kept busy partly because of all the thieves in our world today.  I was surprised as I posted my sad story on Facebook just how many other people had similar stories to relate of being robbed. Even the Sears delivery guy said his wallet was ripped off.  So BE AWARE PEOPLE!  There are a lot of lowlifes out there.