Thursday, December 11, 2008

Raise your hand if you have a bike! Not so fast there Laura.

Last night, or in the wee hours of the morning, someone came into our yard, cut a cable lock and stole my bike, our trailer and a trail-a-bike. This sucks. It sucks because now I have no bike, and because there is nothing I can do about it. I feel helpless, and everyone knows how much I hate being helpless.

Over the summer, Big Dog and I tried to make biking to school and work part of our routine, and we both loved it. I liked feeling like I could get some exercise squeezed into my crazy busy day, though I didn’t really like the 4 mile up hill ride home so much. I liked not driving, using a more green approach to commuting and living that part of my belief system. Big Dog loved riding in the trailer, talking to me the whole way to school. He loved the bike helmet and the feeling of speed. He would yell “Faster mommy, faster” if I slowed down, even if I was slowing down for a stop sign. (ok, this was funny, but maybe I didn’t love this so much either, if I’m going to be completely honest) And I think he especially loved arriving at school, hopping out of his trailer and unhooking his bike helmet while his friends all watched. I’m pretty sure it made him feel particularly cool.

Anyhow, once the weather started getting cold, I stopped trying to bike. I’m not a fan of cold weather. At all. I’m also not a fan of rain, and in Seattle, the cold weather is frequently accompanied by wet weather. So the bike has been locked up on the porch, cable locked to the trailer and with the cable lock looped around the porch post. Until last night.

This morning, Mr. Dog told me that at about 4 am, Dashiell was barking at the door. Usually this means he wants to go out, and when Mr. Dog took him out the front gate was propped open with a big rock and the bike and trailer were gone. His big concern, more than the bike being stolen, was if the dogs bark at the door, I need to look out before I open the door. Someone just might be out there. Now that’s a little bit creepy. The other part that I find creepy is that someone came into our yard, prepared to cut a cable lock on my bike. This means they probably scouted out the house beforehand. The idea of someone looking at my house as a target is freaky, and really quite unsettling.

As I left the house with Big Dog to take him to school on my way to work, I told him, “Someone stole my bike and your trailer last night.”
“Who?” he asked.
“I don’t know. A bad person.”
“Why?”
“They wanted the bike, so they took it. They’ll probably sell it.” I answered, trying to be reasonable.
“Oh. It was a bad person?” he asked.
“Yes, a bad selfish person.” I answered, trying to keep from using other words that were springing to mind.
“But mommy, maybe it was someone who really wanted a bike, and never got one for Christmas. And maybe they took our bike because of that.”
And this is how I know my son is a better person that I am. Or at least a less jaded person, which is good since he is only 5.

Oh, and bike thief, if you happen to be reading this, I hope Santa takes a dump in your stocking this year, because really, even coal is too good for you.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

So sorry this happened. You must have dibs on the freaky people. First someone peering into your yard yelling at your dogs and now this. I'm just as jaded as you are, and FYI I don't think any of my kids would be as kind as yours.

Mrs. F said...

Oh wow. That really sucks. We have had a Kittcar and a bike stolen from right outside our front door. Super maddening. (Ours were never locked up though, so you have completely one upped me with that. Yikes!)

Green said...

Oh that blows. Your son is so sweet to think that way.

Anonymous said...

UGH. That is just horrible. :(

I'm sorry you have to deal with this - and I'm with ya on the dump. Gonna write Santa a letter to second your motion.

Z said...

Ugh. I'm sorry. Things like this freak me out more for the "someone what HERE!" vibe than the what-got-stolen bit... :(

geekymummy said...

bastards.

Anonymous said...

Theft is one of those things that REALLY irks me. I don't know if I could have been as nice as even you were let alone your son.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry. That really sucks. I would keep a look out on Craigslist because the people who do that stuff aren't always the smartest. I hope you are able to get them back! Did you file a police report?

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