Last week was "one of those weeks" that one day I'll look back on and laugh. When it rains, it pours, as they say. I had an incredible 3-day run of pure bad luck. I'm happy to say there was a happy ending, and I can be thankful for many things:
1. There are honest people out there still.
2. I received help from many people who were empathetic with my situation.
3. No permanent damage was caused.
4. I have people in my life who are willing to help and give hugs when needed.
So here's what happened.
Tuesday
I was planning to take a bunch of our old stuff to the Thrift Store to donate. I decided we also needed to get rid of one of our chairs from the living room. The fake leather was cracking and peeling. So I hauled that chair down our 8 flights of stairs and left in it the lobby while I pulled the car around, feeling so good about myself for purging some unneeded belongings. Our street is dreadfully narrow at the moment because of a major construction project across the street, and they have some of it blocked off. I attempted to back into a likely parking spot where I'd be able to load the chair. Well, I backed into a tree. Actually, I saw the tree and avoided it, but I did not see the knot sticking out from it, which left a small dent. Poo. Then, the chair didn't fit. So it is now in our basement until I decide what to do with it next. Fail. I really should have stopped to take a picture of the chair sticking out from the back of my car.
That afternoon, my youngest wet her pants after school, and my oldest got a bloody nose at their after school activity. It was cold, dark, and raining by the time I got home, so I decided to park on our very narrow street in front of our residence so that we would not have to walk the several blocks from our parking garage. The consequences of this decision were not discovered until Thursday morning.
Wednesday
The election results happened, and people in America were hating each other. And I hated it.
While my youngest was at her after school activity, I took my oldest to a store to walk around and have a snack. While we ate our snack, TVs were blaring all of the hate from the election, and I had had enough. I grabbed our stuff and left. The consequences of this action were not discovered until Thursday afternoon.
That brings us to Thursday morning.
I had planned to visit my landlord for coffee that morning. As I readied myself to go, I realized my purse was missing. I had my keys and phone with me because I keep them handy in my coat pockets. I searched the house and the car. Nothing. I thought perhaps I left it at my youngest's after school activity the day before. I called the leaders and asked to be let back into the room so that I could search. I grabbed my checkbook and passport from home, and drove to the location. I was let into the room, and we searched everywhere for the purse. Nothing.
At this point, I am getting quite distressed. I was sure I left it there, and it wasn't there, so....now what? I had no money. No gas in my car. And then when I walked back out to my car I discovered the consequence for choosing to park on our street Tuesday night. Someone had side swiped my car. I was sure it happened when it was parked on the street and not somewhere else.
Now, I could only think that perhaps I left my purse on the seat in my car overnight, forgot to lock the car, and someone stole it. It was also the day before a 3-day weekend. Which meant I needed to act fast getting things cancelled and replaced.
Thankfully, I realized I had a prepaid gas card handy, so I was able to fill up my car. Then, I met my friend who was already working on figuring out what I needed to do about the important things in my purse: ID card, driver's license, etc. I was able to handle getting these things replaced, thanks to the helpful and sympathetic individuals in the offices, in record time before I needed to pick up the children from school.
However, I realized that if someone stole the purse, they would now have the spare car key to Mr. Bloomsbury's car as well as our spare house keys. I was looking at needing to go move his car to a safer location so that it wouldn't be stolen, as well as getting the locks changed in our entire building (an expensive and complicated process).
I called another friend to ask for help. After I told her the whole story, she suggested that I call the store I had visited Wednesday afternoon with my oldest. I really didn't think it was there, but I was desperate. Oh, and thank God! It was there! Someone had turned it in. I had left it at the store when I got up from watching the election coverage, and I had forgotten that I had even set it down. Everything was still in it, even the cash.
It was such a stressful situation, but thankfully friends and strangers were willing to help. And maybe, despite all the hate portrayed on TV, people don't really hate each other all that much.
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