I am really starting to see the upsides of being a minimalist.
If you have nothing, then it can't be stolen from you, and then your life doesn't get flipped on its head for a day or more in the event someone smashes your car windows in (2 blocks from Starbucks), and runs away with your purse, briefcase, work computer, portable hard drive, and legal files.
Yeah, thats right, in the middle of the day. On Friday. At Greenlake.
I have recently described life to someone as a series of losing and then finding your joy again. That's just how it feels sometimes. For various reasons, things can get us down (weather, life transitions, losing a loved one, poor health, bad relationships, etc.). But then things come around again, too, and sometimes in a major way, and hope and joy are restored. We are returned to our standard "happiness set point."
Well, on Friday, I experienced this cycle beginning to end all in a matter of hours. I lost faith in the human race, only to have it restored bit by bit throughout the day by complete strangers. It started with me meeting up with my friend at Greenlake, on my way into work. We chatted at the Greenlake Starbucks for a bit, and then walked the lake. When we returned to our vehicles (we were ironically, parked one behind the other), the glass in my rear passenger door was missing. It turns out, so was my briefcase with my whole legal life in it, and my purse, with the rest of my life in that. They had both been under a blanket behind my passenger seat.
Gulp!! In a matter of minutes, my sweet friend and I had called 1) the police, 2) Wells Fargo to shut down my bank cards, 3) and Phil to let him know lunch was not happening on this day. Phil arrived moments later and within a few minutes, my remaining cards were closed. (Later in the day I would put a security alert on my credit with Equifax, who then automatically sends the same information to TransUnion and Experian. I also filed a claim with GEICO, my insurance company who I love).
Anyhow, by the time I called my bank, the perpetrator (aka jerk, petty thief, low down dirty dog, hereinafter "perp") had already been on a spending spree to a tune of over $1,000 dollars! Best Buy, check, chevron, check, QFC, check, Redbox, check (really, guy? Redbox? You couldn't even sport a few bucks for your own movie rental? Oh that's right, you don't plan to return it.)
I passed my card and the purchase information to the officer so he could collect videos. The officer that met with us at Greenlake then went immediately to Best Buy to review video and do an initial investigation. I was quite sure that is where it would stop. After all, there were no injuries, it was a "small" crime compared to others (although it still totaled over $5,000 in losses and damage).
As soon as the officer left, I received a phone call on my work phone from a number I did not recognize. Katherine was on the other end, reporting that she had my purse after it had been dumped at the side of the road on Aurora. She found my name and googled me, and voila - tracked me down. (This is when you love the Google). Long story short, my sweet friend accompanied me to Aurora, where we talked with the postman who actually found my purse and delivered it to Katherine's business. Then we chatted with Katherine, who actually helped me look around the area for my briefcase! She went so far as to interview neighbors about any suspicious activities or vehicles alongside the building that day. (What a sweetie!) Then she gave me her contact info and said she would call if they found anything else.
Then we got a return phone call from the Detective assigned to the case! What? He was already investigating?! He said that if he was provided all the details from my bank, including exact times of purchase, he could likely have video and possibly a match by the end of the day. Throughout the afternoon we swapped emails and phone calls as I passed him all the information I began collecting. My bank, Wells Fargo, and specifically Robert, at Wells Fargo, was Johnny on the Spot with investigating and reporting on their end all the charges and attempted charges.
Phil made numerous phone calls to schedule an appointment to have my glass repaired, and by the time we had visited my bank, Phil's work, and a few other places as we sorted everything out, we were both hungry and tired, so Phil treated me to a wonderful little meal on the water. It was perfect, except for one interruption: another phone call from a number I did not recognize. Turns out Ted was on the other line. I had hoped against hope that I would receive a phone call from someone who had discovered my briefcase with my paper legal files intact at the very least. Ted reported that he had found my briefcase alongside a parking lot and bus stop on the other side of Greenlake and that it had my laptop and what appeared to be some important papers still inside. Wha!!!!!!! One more bit of hope restored with Ted's phone call. He gave me his number and address when I asked whether I might come by after our meal. So Phil and I went and met Ted in person when he graciously returned my legal life to me. My hard drive appeared to be the only thing missing, but for whatever reason, the laptop remained! Could have been so much worse, so I didn't have to shed a tear even though the loss of the hard drive was devastating. (160 gigs!)
I received yet additional calls from the Officer (Brad) who had visited both Chevron and Best Buy and gotten preliminary looks at their videos. Prior to his visits, he had had me make some phone calls, which I did, to match store I.D. numbers (as they show up on your bank statement) with actual locations. Turns out that is a bit of a chore, but we figured all of them out, even the Redbox, where the perp attempted to "rent" a Michael Jackson Wii game that I'm sure he had no intent of returning. Luckily I had locked down my account at this point so the transaction was declined. As the Redbox lady told me, "Well, you're lucky - this could have been much worse - that game costs $50!" - what she didn't know is that that would have been the smallest charge of the day even if it had gone through! But she's right, at least I don't owe $50 for a Michael Jackson Wii game that I didn't even get to play. Look at the bright side!
Officer Brad made several additional phone calls and sent emails and kept me in the loop the entire day. Phil and I ended up meeting with him the following day when he came by to take prints off the laptop and provide us with a copy of the Best Buy video. I was so impressed! He was clearly a master of working with people to get the information that he needs - even some of these stores were not the most helpful, but it is obvious he has studied human nature and communications as a natural part of his job for years, which makes him very good at it and gently nudging people into cooperating with him.
The end result was that it could have been much much worse - a huge thank you to Katherine and Ted for being such upright, honest, folks, and to Robert and Brad for being good at their jobs. We'll see where things go from here. I could be a minimalist next week with no purse, or maybe I'll just start wearing clothing covered in pockets to carry all my stuff, or maybe I won't walk Greenlake any more, or maybe Brad will catch the guy and myself and everyone else at Greenlake or around the city affected by the perp's bad behavior will see justice ... whatever the result is, my faith in people was restored as quickly as it was lost.
P.S. The new automobile security plan being devised by my boss, an adventurous soul, involves lock boxes, tear gas, and insanely loud car alarms that are triggered by the sound of breaking glass. I will report on how that goes as well. :)
Of course we had to take some self-portraits with trees in the background (Phil's most natural habitat). We did get some pretty funny ones, but alas, this one squeaked by. It becomes painfully obvious why even photographers should hire photographers, what with all the awkward posing and weird angles and funny hair going on in all the other pictures. But this one managed to make the cut, and we had such a short timeframe in which to get it done, this really was our only option. (Thank goodness for tri-pods). 
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