RIP, Little Pink Purse

Pardon my french. It has been a hell of a day.

After a busy morning of weighing in at Weight Watchers (I gained, ugh), then running around buying a birthday present for a friend, I dropped Brad at home and went out to meet said friend, Ashley, for her birthday lunch. We had a lovely time together, she loved the present, and then we went for a walk at the slough nature preserve, my favorite peaceful place when the weather is as nice as it was today.

We parked our cars, I took my keys and phone and put my purse in the trunk. We were away from our cars for 45 minutes exactly. I think you can finish the story yourself.


When we got back to the cars there was a cop car nearby and numerous people standing around writing on clipboards. I walked toward my car when a man stopped me. "Don't touch your car. It was broken into and the cops need to dust it for fingerprints."

I called Brad who came over immediately. Another cop arrived to help with the seven people whose cars were broken into. Whoever did it broke windows and jimmied some locks and only stole purses-- no GPS systems, stereos, etc. Bastards.

After filling out my report we waited as the nice sheriff dusted the car for fingerprints (not much success) and then Brad got as much of the bits of glass as he could off of the seat. We decided to check a few nearby dumpsters as there's a low-ish income apartment complex across the street. No dice.




We decided to just go home and make the necessary phone calls to the banks and credit cards. But then I just felt like checking the dumpsters at the nearby Walmart. We drove around back and I peeked into the dumpster. I spotted a passport-- that was weird. People don't throw their passports into the dumpster, I thought. Then I saw some credit cards, library cards, social security card, and other such things. By George, I had found someone ELSE'S purse. I called the cops who came over and looked at it. Brad had to get into the dumpster to get everything out as the cops "can't get into a dumpster" (grrr, so what will they do if they see MY purse in a dumpster?). We gave everything to the cop and went home.

I called the bank (24 minutes of being on hold before getting a live person at Bank of America. Seriously. They get an F in customer service.) and canceled my debit card and credit card. Then I called our evening employment to ask them to stop payment on Brad's paycheck which he had endorsed and I was going to deposit on my way home. I also ordered a replacement drivers license and AAA card online. Should only be about a week until I get some identification back.

We decided to go ahead with our fun dinner plans. I found a good review online of a restaurant for which we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon and thought we might enjoy a little adventure.

When we got inside we found that it was a buffet, and since it was 7:30 all the food was old, crusty, and nearly gone. We left and headed for a safe and predictable dining experience at Uno's.


We got off the highway and headed down the exit ramp. There were two lanes of right turn lanes, both having a red arrow. The traffic was coming from the left at a pretty good clip when the guy next to us, in the left lane, decided to turn right, directly in the path of an oncoming car! The driver of that car navigated well and tried to swerve to not hit him, but there was no way to avoid it. The cars bumped like bumper cars right in front of us as we yelled, "NO! NO! NO!"

I called the cops (for the SECOND time today) and we followed the cars onto a frontage road to assess and give our witness. The guy who pulled out in traffic was an elderly gentleman who, with his wife, was on his way home from a family wedding. It seemed he just had a little trouble seeing the car coming. The other driver was a 17 year old college freshman who was on her way home from doing a community service project. Neither was hurt, thankfully, so we left after about 25 minutes of waiting for the cop and five minutes of talking with the cop, who was incredulous that we didn't want to eat at the Amazon Grill, but suggested the white pizza at Uno's.


It is very good to be home, finally. I am sad to have lost my dear pink purse, the $120 in cash inside, the more than $200 in gift cards, my personal information, and the innocence and bliss of a nice, peaceful afternoon. I am annoyed at the time and cost of replacing the window and trying to match the tinting of the other three. I am hurt that there are people in the world who do mean things to others instead of acting with love. But I will recover, and things could be worse. For now I need to cocoon and just be safe at home with my sweet husband, and block the nasty, mean, dangerous world out for a bit. What a day.