October Surprise

I did not intend to write a blog marking the start of October by mentioning that my car got broken into AGAIN...probably by the same crackhead that rifled through it the last time.  And again, this time the police came and took a report that will probably end up in the unsolved case file because no one gives a crap about a car that was broken into and was only deprived of meter change (even if it was not the only car that was targeted, which is a crucial point to mention since it was a neighbor who alerted us to the crime this morning after noticing that his car and another neighbor's car had been rifled through).

And if you are worried that this will be another rant, it won't because after speaking with the officer at length about what might have happened this time around, I...will save my feelings for a little later, so please read on (but no, this is not another rant).  The officer suggested that the culprit might have been a known entitity who has caused mischief for years around these parts, and then went on to tell the husband and me how this person has been locked up a few times, homeless, and get this--raised in this very neighborhood!

What in the world???!!!



I can get angry and irate about a lot of random and unfortunate things that happen in life, like cancer and mental illness and freak accidents.  And while there is nothing I can do to cure any of these ailments or anything special I can do to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I cannot think of anything to do, say or feel when it comes to being robbed twice, in the same place, probably at the same time of night, by the same idiot who apparently is too stupid to steal anything other than meter change.

I mean, annoyed is not even the best word to describe what I feel.  Violated might seem slightly better, but he stole about three dollars in change, maybe less.  But perhaps (and I've consulted the thesaurus for these options) dumbfounded, astonished, stunned, and my personal favorite, flabbergasted are more appropriate adjectives because the car was locked this time and others were subjected to the same foolishness.  One of these neighbors is a former police officer so I KNOW his car was locked, and the neighbor who alerted us is not the sort of person who would overlook anything...so this was not one of those fool me once-fool me twice scenarios.  This is the work of some sick, twisted troll who apparently thinks that he did us a favor by only stealing the meter change from our car.

And here comes another big SAT-worthy noun (used in a sentence of course): What impudence! 

But looky here, the Busy Black Woman and her husband are dyed in the wool city folks, so this is hardly the type of crime that would cause a retreat to the suburbs or enrollment in shooting classes through the local NRA chapter.  We get that there are hazards to city living that include being victimized by petty crime.  And because we are products of city neighborhoods where the type of person who would pull such a stunt probably grew up among us, we just shake our heads and clean out the car.  Some people will always be lost.

And that is why I have settled on sad as the best adjective to describe my feelings about all of this.  I actually feel sorry for this guy because it must be pathetic to subsist as a human parasite.  As all of you remember from middle school science class, a parasite cannot live independent of its host, which is typically a larger, stronger organism.  Sure, the parasite can cause problems for its host, but once identified as such, the host has the power to destroy it--to obliterate its very existence!  In this case, annihilation might be an extreme result, but imagine wandering into the wrong jurisdiction where folks are not subject to the same gun laws, getting shot and possibly killed for breaking into someone's house? 

So I am going to do the exact opposite of what is expected here and I am going to forgive this son-of-a-breadbasket loser and pray to God that he does not attempt another break-in of my car anytime soon.  And I will pray that when he is caught in the act of committing another petty nuisance crime in our neighborhood, while in lockup he experiences some kind of religious conversion à la Paul on the road to Damascus or other similar tale of biblical redemption, and then he'll have a testimony to share about how he used to break into parked cars to steal meter change.

Amen.