It Take A Thief!!!

I was reading a friends blog about her "Tragic Tuesday" and decided to share my own version of a Manic Monday. This one centers around the unfortunate dishonesty of some people in the world. Yesterday, our daughter Lauren went to the gym to workout around 9:30 in the morning. She belongs to Lifestyle Family Gym and was at the Keystone facility on 82ND street. I had just talked to her right before the class started. At approx 9:40, the phone rang and it was her bank, trying to reach her - someone was trying to cash a $400+ check and the teller thought it looked a bit strange - signature didn't really match Lauren's signature cards on file, and the id of the person @ the window didn't really look like her. I called the gym, had Lauren pulled from the class for "an emergency" (I am sure her heart was in her throat as she ran to the phone). When I ask Lauren about the check and person - she confirmed she had NOT written this check and furthermore did not know this person. I told her to grab her cell, call me back and we would 3-way call the bank to see what she needed to do. She went to her car to get her cell and guess what - her car had been broken into @ the gym - they had stolen a bag that had her digital camera and a book of blank check as well as her softball bag (glove, cleats, hat, etc.) Now the thief was not so smart - cause there was a new $400 cell phone laying in the cup holder and a $500 GPS system in the console - but they were (thankfully) untouched! Sooo - we call the bank to let them know that there had been checks stolen, and the bank tells us that they did not cash the check, but they gave the check back to the lady and sent her on her way - which I guess it not what they are suppose to do (at least according to the police - The police wanted the check for fingerprints.)

The police show up and really were great - filed a report and immediately went to the bank - who has since called ME back to tell me that they have this gal trying to cash the check on surveillance cameras AND they have a make and model on the car she was driving. So, who knows if this lady will be caught, but I hope someday she realizes what she really took from Lauren.

First - there's a overall sense of violation - that someone has gone through and taken your personal belongings - although it will be costly to replace the camera and softball equipment, it's the pictures that were on the disk of her very first classroom of students as a teacher, or pictures of her and Great Grandma Jennie, who has since passed, or she and her Dad @ the Red's opening day, or Niece Cori's first trip to Kings Island or her college graduation; events that won't happen again and the pictures cannot be replaced.

Then, there's the HOURS that we spent yesterday at the bank, closing accounts, opening new accounts, unlinking ATM cards, etc - as the day went on, I could see the hurt in Lauren's face that someone could do such a despicable thing!

And then, as I mentioned before - the actual cost to replace items - in addition to the $100 deductible that she had to pay to get the window on her car fixed, and the bill to have the glass cleaned out of the car (sooo many pieces of glass,); the cost of replacing all her softball gear - $150 glove, $75 cleats, $25 batting gloves; the cost of a new camera - $300; the cost of replacing all the makeup and little items that were in her purse, plus the purse itself - $100 or more - Someones rude and selfish act has now cost her upwards of $800!!! This just ticked her off and made her mad.

But I think the thing it cost her the most was a lack of trust for mankind. She is a loving and trusting person and this has made her question her trust for people. This is probably a good thing in someways - because, unfortunately, you just can't trust everyone these days and I think she will now develop a caution that has escaped her in the past. I have always worried about her because she does love and trust people - this event may have changed that forever.

So - to the lady who broke into our daughter's car, stole her personal belongings, and used the fake id yesterday @ the 82ND street Fifth Third @ 9:40 AM in an attempt to take money from her accounts - I hope you really needed the items you took - they came with a very high price tag for my daughter. May God bless you and give you peace.