How I Lost my faith in Humanity

We were walking along the side of the road towards our cars and people were talking about the trip and what they are going to take away from it. People were discussing their plans for the next few days. Some of them were headed for home while others of us were continuing our journey onwards to new fun and exciting places. As we were parallel to the cars I looked at mine and something did not look right about the passenger side window. I could not tell if there was a window because I could not catch a glare from the Sun. I was still far away and I could not tell. My first thought was that Brad had been an idiot and left the window down. Of course it could not have been my fault. Then I started to think back and I remembered checking to see if the windows were rolled all the way up. I squinted my eyes to get a better look and still could not tell. I said out loud that I think I have a missing window and one of the guys reassured me and said nothing looked strange but I knew something was not right. My stomach immediately began to twist and my heart dropped four stories down to my knees. Before I knew it I was running into the wind trying to get around the corner and to my car. The closer I got the further from the scene I wanted to be. On the ground beside my car were turquoise pieces of shattered glass. I slowed my pace and saw the last thing in the world I wanted to see on our road trip. Not only had my window been shattered and my car broken into but my locked glove box had been broken into as well and was fixed open with papers flung haphazardly about the front seat. I did not mean to cry before I knew I was my cheeks were already hot and tears were streaming down them. I must have made some wailing noise because the owner of the house that the cars were parked right next to came out to see what was going on. She brought me a glass of water, which was nice, but I wish instead that they would have kept a better eye on the cars. I think they are really nice people and they were really nice to me. They let me come inside to calm down and use there phone to call my mom. He picked me some fresh grown apricots from their tree and they really did help me to calm down. But as soon as I walked back to the car I just could not hold it together. The stole my wallet with all of my personal cash and our emergency cash. The got my credit card, debit card, social security card and who knows what else was in my wallet not to mention the wallet itself which I love. In my wallet were my only really nice pen and my checkbook. Brad and I had been saving our quarters for laundry money and they took of with all of our quarters and some gas cards. Both of our brand new ipods were taken. The sad part about the ipods is we had both of our ipods stolen from Brad’s car a few weeks before the trip began. I decided the best way to spend my stimulus package was surprise Brad with a new ipod. I bought us both new fancy 80-G ipods and they lasted one month before they were stolen from us. Some of the things that were taken hurt my heart more than our wallets. The bracelet Maxx had just had made for me and given to me was taken by these two bit idiot thieves who do not even know what they are looking for. The value of the bracelet was not in dollars although there was a fair amount of turquoise on it. They stole my colored sharpies and craft supplies that I use to make cards. They took these because they were in a crown royal bag so I assume they thought it was liquor or at least something valuable. I ask you what people who break into cars for fun are going to do with 30 multi colored sharpie pens? They also took all of our chargers. We had most of our equipment with us like our phones and camera but now we were unable to charge any of it. So not only had we been victims of vandalism but neither one of us had a working phone at the time. Mine had died and Brad’s randomly short circuited and malfunctioned shortly after. They did some pretty serious damage to the passenger door bending the frame, scratching the paint and ruining the rubber that surrounds the window. The glove box is beyond repair and will no longer close. It was really hard for me to pull it together because I kept noticing little things that were gone. I did leap to the back of the car where we had wrapped most of our things in a blanket so you could not tell what they were from the outside looking in. I sprang to Brad’s guitar case and opened the hinges to find that the guitar was safely in its place. I then checked my computer bag and to my surprise it too was still in its place. I hadn’t looked for my computer until this point because I had just assumed that would have been the first thing to go. They did rummage through me purse and took what they wanted and they went through my bag full of cloths and threw my bras around the car. I was still having a hard time keeping it together luckily I was not alone. Someone called the police and someone else asked me about my insurance and found the number on line for me. One of the gentlemen from the river trip offered to go back and get Brad. To me at this moment that was the thing I needed the most. I needed a hug and something I felt was solid to hold on to and cry. I needed Brad because I knew he would get it and I knew he would know how to be there with me and for me. There were actually two cars that were broken into. As one would think they were the two our of state plates. It was obvious that we were traveling and we would have all sorts of goodies in our car. I hated that the other group that was burgled was Diane and Lundy but this actually turned into a good thing. Well, not a good thing but as good a thing as can come from a situation like this. They proceeded to look through their car and realized all the many things that they had taken from them. They lost a computer with his lectures and work on it, camera and camera equipment, car TV’s, and the meanie’s even stole the little girls stuffed animal and her bag. The Sheriff came and asked questions and away he went. I realize there is not a whole lot that can be done but there should be more. The owner of the nearby house said he was sure it was one of two sets of boys who live in the neighborhood. I don’t know why we could not go and see if they had our stuff. If the police were able to go and check it our based on a hunch many more lost things would be found. Instead they do nothing and time passes. With the passing of time the stolen belongings get defaced and sold or given away or even thrown away and they can no longer be traced back to the rightful owners. I was so upset, sad, angry and blind sighted that I wanted so badly to find these boys and demand my things back. The problem with this is the parents are more than likely just as bad as the kids are. And that would lead to a very scary situation. Therefore, these punks get away with this over and over again so of course they are going to continue the vicious cycle. People like this have no regard for other people so I find it funny that there is so much regard for them taken by the community and the law enforcement. The Sheriff was nice enough but it is almost worthless to call them because nothing will be done about it aside from it being filed in a cabinet somewhere to collect dust while we are left to pick up the tab and deal with the damage. By damage I mean the damage that was done to our things but more importantly the damage to my heart and my soul. I do not know how much more I will be able to take before I am cynical. I have always been a bubbly trusting person and these horrible things keep happening to me that prove that the human race has a huge problem and a lack of compassion. The people who broke into our cars were well aware that we were on vacation. How could they not see how much worse that makes their actions? They not only ruined our vacation but what were we to do so far from home without a window and a broken car. How can you be so narrow-minded that you can not step into someone else’s life for even a moment and see that they are a person just like you with good and bad qualities alike. How can you slap someone that you don’t know in the face like that? I walk through my life trying to be aware and thoughtful of those around me and I have a really hard time with being attacked like this. I was able to call the insurance company and report a claim – GEICO is pretty useless as far as finding someone to fix your car. They told me I would need to go to a GEICO adjuster but there were not any in the surrounding area of Colorado that we were in. I was okay with this and asked about the places we would be near in Utah. I got the same response that there were not any in the area. I even understood this though my frustrations were wearing thin. Next I asked about California because I was sure California would be sprinkled with auto shops. To my surprise there were none in the areas we would be. Come on GEICO – you have got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous. There are not any in Grand Junction, North of San Diego, Anaheim, etc. So I suppose we will just have to drive around the country with a door that whistles in the wind and a glove box that is tied together with a string and loosens throughout the day to hit the knees of whomever is in the passenger seat. It is hard to explain how much my heart hurt. The river trip had been so nice and I was in such high spirits and then to come crashing down so quickly made me feel so small and so heavy. I wanted to scream and cry and disappear all at once. I really wish I could turn back time and change something to prevent this from happening for now I am nervous about being in unknown places and my sense of adventure is tainted. I hate that the river trip now has this black shadow cast over it but there is nothing that can be done about this now. I wish they had had a shuttle service because they have had incidences in the past with people’s cars and property. You would hope they would take more care in protecting their customers but it is not their fault either. I told the owner of the company, Centennial Canoe, that he should consider a shuttle service and he replied that it would be too much of a hassle. I recommend that if you travel out of state and do a multiple day trip to make sure to leave your car in a safe place. Even if you have to pay for a taxi to transport you it is worth it not only monetarily but emotionally as well. Over the next few moments and days I would randomly cry not for the loss of belongings but for my loss in faith in humanity and my brothers and sisters. Why can there not be a heightened sense of family among people everywhere. Even still when I think about it my heart gets heavy and there are tears forming in the back of my eyes. I hope this goes away soon so we can continue on our trip with a positive outlook and smiles on our faces.