Hello again. I wish I felt like writing more and I don't care enough to discipline myself to do it often. Anyway, let's jump in.
On the day of Halloween, I foolishly had my phone stolen and I feel like it was mostly my fault, even though the scumbag was taking advantage of my kindness. I was mostly distressed because I had a wedding to go to that evening, and contacting my friend would be difficult but it worked out easier than I thought. I borrowed my mom's personal phone (she had her work iPhone) for the evening. I ended up re-activating an older phone of mine.
I had lent a man my phone at the bus stop. He promptly made 2 calls and made a run for it. I was stunned for like 2 seconds (that's a long time) before instinct took over and I found myself running after him. It was no use, I was too slow, and it didn't help that I was already winded from my morning work out. (Even at full energy, I still would have been slow, I'm just trying to make myself feel better.) You would not believe the efforts I went through to try and get my phone back for the following weeks.
I asked around a bit, ended up meeting a person who witnessed it happen. They gave me a lot of helpful information but unfortunately I wasn't able to make much use of it. I was still incredibly grateful.
I ended up seeing the dude the next day outside of McDonald's! I didn't realize it as he was wearing a different set of clothes at the time. D'oh. What caught my attention was that as I walking through the door towards inside, he turned his face away from me as he was talking to this woman.
I found him again at McDonald's, tried calling the non emergency number for assistance but they wanted me to confront him myself while they wait a block away or something like that. I think he saw me and bolted because as I was on the phone I couldn't see him again. So that was futile.
A week or so later, I ended up confronting him myself before work. It was either a Friday or Saturday. I don't recall. I was so scared I was shaking, lmao. I caught him as he was buying food. I couldn't really stay that long and he ended up saying that he would return my phone and that I could go with him to retrieve it. I retorted "I'm not going anywhere with you" as I was alone at the time. We then tried to set the terms of the return of my phone. I walked into work early enough to let the tears of overwhelmedness (how the heck do I word that?) flow before my shift started. The nerves were all worked up. Also, that was a scary confrontation. Don't do this at home, kids. I was going off the description from that helpful person that he wasn't dangerous, just stupid.
Needless to say, he didn't keep his word. I half gave up and avoided the areas I would find him in. But it doesn't end there.
I had another confrontation while with a friend, again at the McDonald's. The thief came up to me saying that he was still trying to get the phone, and gave some weird excuse for blowing me off previously. He needed 20 dollars and as soon as he had the money he would buy back the phone from the dude he pawned it to. (I don't actually know if he panwed it to him, I'm assuming here.) I didn't give him 20 dollars, but I wanted to.
What I DID do though is say is I would literally pay him for the phone in our final confrontation. I saw him by chance while walking to work. I left this bit of info out while recounting the story to friends. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, it still wasn't enough incentive because I haven't seen him since. Not that he disappeared, I just stopped looking. I also stopped going to the gym for a couple weeks but that's another story.
I had been meaning to write this out for awhile now, I don't know, man. It's a bit exhausting to think about and not every detail is even in this story, but right now it's the equivalent to my late night even though it is now 7 in the morning.
It's been over a month since the incident, and it looks like I'm just going to get a new phone soon. I had it insured, but that's still $200 dollars lost. I'm mostly positive about the situation. It's only a phone, no one was hurt. Physically. Material objects are just material objects. I learned my lesson but I don't see that as a good thing. "Don't trust strangers" shouldn't be a lesson, but unfortunately...
I don't even hate the dude. Like, I can feel for him and his situation. I could understand the desperate measures for desperate times. What sucks is how broken my trust is now. I'm never going to lend my phone to a stranger again. I've helped people immensely before! This one dude came in to work one time looking roughed up from being mugged! With my phone he was able to contact his girlfriend who venmo'd me money so I could give him cash. It felt good knowing I could help at least a little in a situation like that, y'know? I mean, I'd still give 50 cents for someone to use a pay phone or something, but outright giving my expensive belonging to someone else to borrow is just not happening anymore.
Freakin' Marbach, man.
