Monday, July 2, 2007

Pickpockets of the World...

kindly eat dirt and die! Specifically, will the scum-sucking pigdogs who lifted my mother's wallet in her neighborhood grocery store today just go straight to jail, do not pass go, and definitely do not profit from the two 30" plasma-screen television sets you bought with her credit and debit cards? And will you please take the clerk who allowed you to make the purchase without showing ID to match the cards (can you spell "accomplice?") with you?

I've been doing damage-control this afternoon on this theft, and I'm really mad. Fortunately, my mother was not hurt and the financial losses have been eradicated, since she immediately filed a police report. We're in the process of replacing things like her Medicare card and checking account and filing a fraud alert on her credit report. She won't be out any money from your crime because she reacted quickly. These are the easy things to do when someone has ripped you off and stolen your valuables.

The hard things to do are less tangible. Let's start with the wallet. My dad wasn't exactly a paragon of generosity and tenderness. Simply put, he never did much gift-shopping for anyone. One of the few things he had actually bought was my mother's wallet. This was several years back, so the wallet itself was not in very good shape--stretched out, the leather scratched and worn, but once upon a time, it was supple and new, and in a box, and smelled rich and extravagant. And he gave it to her.

Dad's gone now, and so is her wallet. That's worth way more to me than any number of 30" plasma-screen television sets. I can go buy her a new wallet tomorrow, but I can never replace the gift Dad gave her, and what you worthless pieces of trash took from her today.

And it gets worse. Right now, my mom is sleeping on my couch. She has a perfectly good house, in a nice enough neighborhood, but because you stole her driver's license, which happens to have her address on it, tonight she's too scared to stay there. I don't mind at all having her here and am relieved she decided to finally come, but you stole her peace of mind, and her right to a good night's sleep in her own bed. And for that alone, you deserve whatever punishment comes your way.

Sleep well. *$#@*&^$%!

2 comments:

Sally Thomas said...

OK, when you rang me the other day, the connection on my end was really bad -- our kitchen phone is very staticky -- so I gleaned that your mom had lost credit cards, but I didn't really get the gist of the story -- and then I felt just too stupid to say, "So what exactly happened?" Belatedly, now I get it, and I'm so sorry, and I understand why you were so upset. I am very glad that at least she won't have lost money, though there's no replacing all the things that weren't money, or even all that tangible.

Thanks for taking the teeny out the other night to the fireworks, by the way -- she had a grand old time (sitting around her aunt's pool the next day was a TOTAL letdown, I fear . . . ).

Redblur63 said...

Thanks for the sympathy...I think part of the bad connection may have been due to the fact I was being a bit of a poseur trying to talk on the headset while driving 65 mph with the window rolled down. I'm sure the wind rushing past the stupid little microphone thingy didn't do much for the sound quality. Sorry about that.

Mom is doing better. She's settled down and my oldest sister is here for a few days to help wrap up some of the lingering issues.

And yes, all of the kids had a great time at the lake Tuesday night. Did you hear about Dear Daughter hurling on the merry-go-round? I wasn't actually there when it happened, but Friend-Boy was pretty gleeful when telling the story. Dear Daughter even laughed about it.

The trip home was a little...um...interesting. I do apologize for the lateness of the hour. The small-town police closed off all roads out of the park except one three-mile stretch of twisty, two-lane road...not too bright.