I'm a Geek, I Love Snow

Snow is beautiful to some, annoying to others, and a yearly pain in the you-know-what to many. To me, it's simply gorgeous & cleansing.  Nature's way of temporarily erasing all that is ugly or negative.  The soft fall of it from the sky ... so different than the pitter patter of rain. The lovely lay of it on the ground .. obscuring all that was brown and trodden upon before. The laughter of children (and adults!) playing in it. The snowballs thrown in jest,  the angels carved from lying in it, the snowpeople and sculpture created out of it for the short time it's here. The fact that water vapor frozen in its fall from the clouds can cause so much joy to many in so many ways is awesome.  To those of you who live in areas that get snow often, count yourself lucky. It may impede normal life activities,  but it also allows for life building opportunities with families and friends that dont happen with rain or ice. I love snow .. for so many of these reasons.  Go have fun in it and do the same!

To The Man Who Stole My Wallet Yesterday

Dear Sir:

Please understand that the only reason I use the gentlemanly term of "sir", is because of your advanced age bracket, because what you did was not at at gentlemanly!  Yes, I do know what you look like. I remember you. You got onto the bus yesterday at the same place I did. I remember you sat down a couple rows behind me, and your beard and countenance reminded me of some sweet, grandfatherly figure ... or at least I thought so at the time. I wonder if you watched as I reached into the pocket of my bag to pull out my gloves just before my stop. I wonder if you saw my wallet fall out of that pocket as I did so, or if you simply noticed it as I stood up to disembark. I was the only person in that seat section, so it would have been obvious to whom the wallet belonged.

Did you know that I was on the way to meet my son? Five minutes after disembarking, as I walked into his music class to pay his tuition, I noticed that it was missing. Did you realize that the android phone you so unceremoniously chucked into that trashcan has GPS tracking? We were able to find it that way. Thank you, by the way, for simply throwing it in the trash. That's one less thing I have to replace.

You are actually quite photogenic. The video surveillance cameras in the store where you threw my phone away and then proceeded to rent Redbox movies using my bankcard were pointed right at you. The police have those, and some very good close up shots of you as you made your movie purchases. They were able to watch your every move. I hope those were fantastic movies. They just might cost you a lot more than you originally anticipated.

Your choice of action has caused me to contemplate many things as I go through the motions of reporting, canceling, and replacing all the parts of my life that were in that wallet. Yes, you did, in fact, have a choice. You could have alerted me to the wallet dropping or you could have turned it in to the bus driver. I have no idea of what your circumstances are. I'm sure that there is a reason you made the choice that you did. Maybe you've been out of work for some time, or maybe you were depressed, needed a relaxing movie evening, and felt that was the only way you could afford one. Whatever your reason, I am sure you thought it to be a valid one at the time. Unfortunate and misguided, but valid in your mind nonetheless ... it sucks for you that the only cash I had in there was about 35 cents.

I'd like to let you know a little about the woman you stole from. I am a single mother that is back in college after being laid off from my job over a year ago. I'm definitely a people person, and probably would have rented you those movies myself had you only asked politely. I tend to be impulsive and impatient at times, so this experience has been a great lesson in patience development for me, which is a good thing. It has also helped me with prioritizing skills over the past 24 hours. You see, in the middle of all the obvious things that were happening like freaking out over the loss of my wallet and phone, filing the report, canceling the id's and cards, and spending time with my son, I also had a number of things due for classes today and tomorrow. It really helps to know that I have the ability to navigate a whirlwind of stress, such as the one you created, and still am able to meet my school deadlines and focus on and assist my children. I appreciate the gift of that knowledge. Finally, it has caused me to truly evaluate and appreciate the things in my life that are not just "things". My mother, my boyfriend, and my son, who braved the freezing temperatures in that parking lot for over two hours while we worked with the police and assisted in any way possible with the legwork and computer tracking. The off duty officer who initially assisted me, then continued to work with us and the on duty officer who arrived shortly after to officially handle the case. Both of them were wonderful, intelligent,  efficient, and comforting, and we all even shared a few laughs in spite of the cold and frustration. The immediate helpfulness of the store management once they were informed of the situation. The fact that I am fortunate enough to have a thick, warm jacket to wear, a supportive, loving family to back me up, a warm, comfortable home to return to and eat hot soup after being in a frozen parking lot for all that time ... It is definitely the little things that are many times taken for granted that make life wonderful, and I am thankful your actions were able to remind me of that.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate the unintentional lessons and wish good luck to you. I firmly believe that there is good somewhere in everyone and that even the most horrible experiences have silver linings somewhere.  I hope you read this and that you'll make better choices for your own life in the future.

Sincerely,
The Girl In The Little Black Dress

The Other Side Of Walking For Exercise

It's amazing what you see walking down the street.  I love coming up with stories that could apply to what I accidentally view. Not necessarily people and their antics (don't get me wrong, those are fascinating too!), just the THINGS that I encounter.  I find it fascinating (yes, I'm that much of a geek), to imagine the stories of how and/or why those random items came to be there. 

Today, I walked past a single sock, a crushed plastic soda bottle, an embellished barrette, and a pile of crushed pottery .... all within about 2 blocks. So random, yet so fascinating.!  How does one lose a single sock on a street? Was it in the floorboard of a car and fell out when a door was opened to let out a passenger? Was the person in idiot mode of inebriation and decided that one of their socks was just not necessary? Did the bottle fall out of the car when entering it, unnoticed, and was run over backing out of the parking lot, or did someone get fed up with the universe and simply chuck it out the window? How does a person lose something attached into their hair style and not realize it? Had they already taken it out, placed it in a pocket or purse and it inadvertently fell on the ground? The pile of crushed pottery was large enough to be higher than the puddle it resided in. Was it put there on purpose to fill in the hole in the alleyway,  or did someone get annoyed, throw it upon the ground and crush it for sanity purposes?

As I walked past a furniture consignment store, I noticed a fantastic iron wine rack shaped like a butler, and a 1950s style ashtray painted in rainbow mosaic. What stories could those pieces tell if only they were able to?

Walking doesn't have to just exercise your body, it can be truly, mentally stimulating!  Sidewalk and store window displays, accidentally discarded belongings, the single flower popping out of the ground on a chilly day, the bird's nest visible in a barren tree ... all are stories in their own right. Take a look. You might be amazed at what you see, in spite of yourself.

~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress