MIDLIFE [MOMENT]-19, Tuesday, December 26, 2023 – It Was a Moment After, Not the Theft.
A bit of writer’s block for the past several weeks, for a lack of a more detailed explanation.
The kids are out of town for the Holiday, and when I went to call them last night, I noticed that my calls to them the night before were the last calls in my call log since Sunday night. Usually filling my call log each day, even telemarketers celebrate the Christmas Holiday. That is an interesting factoid. Now, it may not be accurate to say that they are literally celebrating the Christmas Holiday, but they sure are honoring it with silence across the board. We will call that a win, at least a win for silence.
So “theft” is a big word to throw out there, thus baiting the reader with no indication as to what was thieved. Well, it was my son’s school backpack, a week ago, Tuesday, December 19. [He] and I were at the park, [a local park] in Harris County on the west side of Houston. It happened after school while playing disc golf. Since school was on early dismissal, we had time to play two games before dark. When we walked back to the parking lot, I could see a dark area next to the car, and then I got that sinking feeling in my stomach as we walked closer; I could see that it was the shattered tinted glass from the back-right window. I am not one to get riled about something so material, yet I did feel for [my son]. The perpetrator(s) took his backpack which included his school Chromebook and charger, his Kindle, phone charger, water bottle, his hat, class notes, day-planner, and school ID.
After cleaning up as much of the glass as I could scoop wearing nitrile gloves, I had in the back, and using a folded sheet of paper, we got back in the car. I had [my son] start eating his dinner. I pack him dinner a couple days of the week so I can avoid getting fleeced at a fast-food restaurant now that he is up to two entrees a sitting, and we can also enjoy eating at a park verses a parking lot after playing disc golf.
While he was eating, I called the park number which referred me to the Constable’s office, Precinct 3. After getting through to dispatch, explaining what happened, the dispatcher explained to me that the park fell within Precinct 4, but that Precinct 5 covered it. She gave me the number for the Constable’s office, The Office of Constable Ted Heap, Precinct 5, so I called them. The second dispatcher said that she would send out an officer to make a police report. Officer [...] came out. I was expecting him to blow through procedures, and be on his way, but he took a sincere amount of time assessing the situation, and explained that he would not be able to take fingerprints due to me disturbing the scene by opening the door and cleaning up the glass. He asked [my son] for an inventory of the backpack, listened attentively, and took thorough notes. We exchanged information, and we were on our way.
Earlier, while waiting for the officer to arrive, [my son] and I joked about the broken window, and his missing backpack. The battery on his phone had just died, so I joked, “Hey, why don’t you get your charger … oh, it was in the backpack.” Real funny stuff like that. Again, I was not bothered by the theft, only the annoyance of having several more things on my to-do list, and feelings of empathy for [my son] about the items taken, and the fact that the school would be out a Chromebook.
Side-note, we did not get the Chromebook insurance at the beginning of the year, but as it turns out, with a copy of the Police Report, he, we, may not be liable for the loss. The Kindle was his personally. I was also concerned about the exposed window opening, the possibility of rain, driving back to Clear Lake, and the risk of someone having access to my car, and the risk to other items worth stealing. Again, it was not the theft that bothered me, it was a bland feeling of the added to-do items. That said, I was lucky, there were several more items of more value that were untouched, like my full-body wet-suit, hanging in full view only feet from where the backpack sat.
The next day, Wednesday afternoon, I received an email from the assistant director at [my son’s] school. Someone had found the backpack, thrown in a garbage can at a nearby gas station, and that person brought it to the school. Items missing: Chromebook, Kindle, and the day-planner. All other items were intact.
Fortunately, the kids were going out of town Thursday morning, so I would have my daughter’s car as a backup which worked out well, since I did not take my car to Clear Lake Auto Glass & Tint in Webster until the following Saturday. Having [my daughter's] car starting Thursday morning allowed me to avoid repeatedly driving my car with the flapping trash bag I slipped over the door frame. The trash bag was effective at keeping out moisture, but flapped loudly once driving over about 30 miles-per-hour.
So, that brings us to the moment.
Thursday morning, I met the kids up at the airport – leaving out the sorted logistics that got us to that point. Leaving the house shortly after 4:00 a.m., we took [my wif's] car to the airport, then I drove [my daughter's] car back home. On the way there – about a 20-minute drive – I was rehashing the events of Tuesday, the broken window, repairs, insurance, the stolen backpack, it being returned, and then the moment came. [My wif] said, paraphrasing, “It is difficult for a lot of people now.” She was speaking generally, but also inferring that it was possible that someone stole the backpack out of necessity.
I will be frank. Had I caught the individual, or individuals, in the moment, events would have played out far differently. The individual(s) who stole his backpack was likely organized, casing the area, watching Roman at the park before I got there. He had volunteered at the elementary school across the street; I normally pick him up from his school down the street, a couple of blocks away. Whoever stole the backpack was not likely in need – other than in need of an arse whooping – he or she likely made a routine of taking things, it just seemed too clean, too targeted. As noted, there were other items in the car worth stealing, within reach, but everything else was untouched. The nature of those thieves was that of nefarious opportunists, not that of someone in need.
Now, two days later, it was four-something in the morning, I had to ask the wif to get up at 4:00 a.m., go with me to the airport, so I could get my daughter’s car. [My son's] Chromebook, Kindle, and day-planner, were long gone, and my car window – now, money out-of-hand – still needed to be fixed. Yet, in that moment the wif and I had a very calm and matter-of-fact conversation, and it was her nature in that early morning moment to think of someone in need.
For all that we think that we do not have, or that we may have lost, there is always someone who has less. One of my life mantras is, we do not know what takes place behind the closed doors of others, we have no idea. It does not excuse any of the wrongdoing, but it made for a moment, it was not about the theft for us. Things were added to my to-do list, an out-of-hand expense was added, but the wif reminded me albeit indirectly, maintain perspective, and to not to let anyone seed my heart with hate. Their circumstances are not mine, and although affected, I will remain unaffected by others at my core.
The photo? Christmas dinner, reasonably unrelated, but relative in that I am grateful for what is in front of me, not by what is trying to distract me. Dinner at my Mom’s: roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes with skins, cornbread with cream cheese, green beans, cubed pineapple, and not featured, compliments of [Family friends], homemade key-lime pie with roasted coconut slivers.
***
It was a moment after, not the theft.
- Matfucius
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