Anyway, as we got back to the car, Pete suddenly yelled out, and realized that his wallet was gone. We retraced our steps, searched through garbage bins, under tables, all over the place, we put his name and phone number in at every store we walked past, just in case somebody turned it in. We listed everything that he had inside it. We called the police, and waited for them to come. Two hours later, they STILL had not arrived (insert expletive derogatory remark about idiot policemen here), so we drove to the nearest police station to file a report.
In the meantime while we were waiting, we called all the necessary credit cards and other cards that he had in his wallet. We were told by the bank that somebody, (the thief), had taken his debit card and used it as a credit card at a Giant Eagle grocery store spending $439 bucks, in less than 15 minutes after stealing his wallet. The thief also got over $100 in cash. But can you believe THAT?? Spending $439 on GROCERIES?? I mean that's just odd...nobody really does that, at least not THAT much all at one time, (unless you're at Costco or Sam's Club maybe), so it should have seemed rather suspicious to the clerk who waited on the person, not to mention they didn't bother to look at the signature or anything when he/she signed for it all.
I'm guessing that it was a female, I mean, would a GUY go buy groceries with a stolen card like that?? I don't quite understand the whole thing, but desperation and unemployment and financial crises and other issues (i.e. Octomom with 9 kids she can't feed), may have driven he or she to that. I feel bad for the person, but I tell ya, if it were ME, and if I wanted to spend some time in jail for stealing, I'd be on a plane to Tahiti with the credit card, having as much fun as I could before they caught up to me...you betcha. I sure as HELL wouldn't go to the nearest grocery store and rack up $439 in food.
Anyway, so I contacted the Giant Eagle loss prevention department and they will trace the transaction and use their cameras to identify the person for police to go pick up. I don't think that will take very long. In the mean time, we're waiting for all new cards to be sent for Pete, and he has to get a new drivers' license, and a new wallet. But he was really shaken, and upset, feeling very down today. When I told him that it happened to me, (in the middle of the National Mall in DC on New Years' Day no less), I felt the same exact despair and upset, and it was horrible. Luckily in my case, some nice tourist lady found my wallet and called me to say she had it, so that worked out very well after a frantic day of ick....but, I told Pete we were working as a team, all of us pitching in to get through it, and that says a lot about his kids and about our relationship. We were a team, and will always be a team, no matter what life throws at us. I also told him that I always feel SAFE when I am with him, and that is never an issue with me. He seemed to cheer up a bit after that.
Well, so it was a bummer ending to a fun day, but it will work out. This kinda crap happens, unfortunately, and we just gotta deal with it and move on. I just hope the person who took his wallet doesn't try to steal his identity or anything like that. I would definitely open a huge can of whoop ass if that ever happened, or if he/she decided to pay us a house call to steal more of our stuff.
I've blocked some hotel rooms for the wedding. We'll go take a look at them before we sign the contract, just to make sure they are decent enough. I'm now making gift bags to greet everyone at the hotel when they arrive. I tell ya, this wedding stuff just never ends. But I keep plugging away at it all. I'm starting to get nervous though about people helping me set all this up and stuff. I don't want to make people WORK at this thing, but I will definitely not be able to do all this by myself. Hiring a wedding planner is a cop-out, in my opinion, after all it's MY DAY and I want it MY WAY and I don't like someone else stepping in to take over the whole thing like that, and why the heck would I PAY somebody to do that?! Maybe that makes me a bit controlling, I don't know, funny and ironic because I'm really quite submissive most of the time. But, those wedding planners cost an arm and a leg, and it's usually quite "fake" looking when all is said and done. I want mine to look real and maybe even a little imperfect, homemade and elegant but with a little bit of kitsch thrown in....and I want to do it myself.
But, the logistics of the whole thing seem against that. So I thought about setting up "teams" of all the bridal party participants, and of Pete's kids, and my mom and sisters, etc., that will help do specific things. I even bought some binders that I intend to fill with specific directions and plans for each team to plan on doing the day of the wedding, to help decorate and set up everything. I don't know if it's realistic on my part to try and organize so many people to do things the way I want them to, but I'm going to try at least.
Well, that's the scoop for now. We took Florence to "Build A Bear" today and she had a blast making a little stuffed dog to give to her great grandchild, Cameron, for Christmas. I had never been there before, it was cute! I still say my old teddy bear is better than any of those fancy schmancy expensive and well-dressed ones though. Ya just can't beat the original!!
Love, Becky
No comments:
Post a Comment