Wednesday, August 12, 2009

my library books are on the lam

The day before yesterday the boys and I went in search of a slip and slide.
It had proved such an engaging activity at Grandma and Grandpa's house,
we decided it would be a good end of summer investment.
We pooled the rest of our rummage sale cash and coins and took off looking for one.
After casing Target and Toys R Us, we ended up at KMart.
And found the perfect slip and slide, 30% off no less.
It's a shark slip and slide where you slide into the shark's mouth wearing 3D goggles so that you feel like you are being eaten as you slide into a mini pool of water at the end.
It was just gory enough to thrill 3 young boys hearts.
As we made our way happily back to the van with our fantastic purchase,
there was a slip and slide spring in our step. This was going to be fun.
And then we got to the van. And realized we had been robbed. ROBBED.
I must have left the door unlocked during the process of herding my energetic crew into KMart and missing from the van was my very conscpicuous hot pink argyle Dickie's backpack.
It was full of all the library books and movies and books on tape that I checked out for our vacation and was going to return on the way home.
It also contained Jack's ear medicine, some Visine and some H&M hair clips.
I haven't been robbed in a long time. And it was a shocking feeling.
Someone I didn't even know had broken faith with me and my van and was now sporting a very sassy and highly literary backpack that was not theirs.
And I also had a very sinking feeling in my gut since I have a slight inkling of what the library fines could be of all those missing articles.
I hold librarians in high regard and was already thinking about what I would have to say to ours since,
"Someone stole my library books in KMart parking lot" sounds a whole lot like
"My dog ate my homework".
The boys were distraught as well. Jack said,
"This day started out great and now it's terrible."
And then called the perpetrator an idiot several times.
To which I replied, "It's not a terrible day. We still have the slip and slide" and "Stop saying "idiot" please."
I said a little prayer in my head that was almost the exact opposite of Christ's words towards those who were against him.
Instead of "Father, forgive them" I prayed, "Lord, I hope they feel terrible and a little condemned and that they won't be able to sleep at night until they turn in the library books."
Do people who steal backpacks feel inclined to return library books?
And THEN after driving for a bit, I prayed that God would forgive whoever it was who stole from us since they must not be doing that great if they are stealing library books in the first place.
This prayer was followed by another prayer that God would forgive me too, since deep down inside I seem to lack a great deal of mercy and am an eye-for-an-eye type of person after all.
I also had the thought that if I saw someone with a hot pink argyle backpack walking down the street with H&M hairclips in their hair that I might have to launch myself at them to see if Madagascar 2 and The Mouse and The Motorcycle were still inside.
This didn't happen, thankfully, since while it would have been entertaining for the children, it would have been hard to explain to passersby.
My second thought was of fingerprinting the door handle of the van with some all purpose flour and a piece of scotch tape and have the police department chase them down when they are identified in CODIS....I'm pretty sure I watch too much forensic television.
So for now, my library books are living a life of high crime.
And we are going to do what we set out to do from the beginning.
Play on the Slip and slide.


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7 comments:

~beautyandjoy~ said...

That IS sad. Who would steal a pink backpack, too? Won't they feel embarrassed and the opposite of a tough bad guy?

I'm annoyed and irritated for you and if I could I would offer you chocolate and a bunch of gummi bears.

Unknown said...

That's terrible!!! I hope it all somehow works out for you.

Pilgrim said...

Wow.... who steals a hot pink backpack and library books...really?

I know. Maybe the person who did it is a big fan of yours. And they just really, really wanted something that belongs to you... anything that you've touched... if its your pink backpack and library books, so be it!

Maybe they can be apprehended by the librarian when they return the books. Tell her to keep an eye out.

BizzieLizzie said...

You've convicted me today. I don't know that I would have been all that forgiving - matter of fact - I KNOW I would not have. Yes, mercy - I need to practice the art of mercy, much, much more and ask forgiveness, much, much more AND if you need a new library tote - it's on me - just contact me! =0)

Kim said...

You think it could be some out-of-work dad who just wanted to get his daughter a nice birthday gift and didn't have any money so he saw that totally hot pink backpack and an unlocked door and thought "That's perfect!" and because he's an out-of-work dad and not a hardened criminal he will totally return the library books.

okay, probably not. But it was fun thinking up an alternative scenario :-)

Missionary friends of ours were robbed multiple times, once the thieves literally taking the shirt off the dad's back. The next week our friends were driving to the capital and saw the shirt! They ran after the man wearing the shirt and caught him. He led them and the police to the stash of stolen stuff but the other thieves got away. The captured thief went to prison where our friends visited him and told him about Jesus. He accepted the free gift of salvation and our friends were very happy. A few months later he got sick and died while still in prison, singing praises to Jesus right to the end.

Jess said...

Why does the thief have to be a man? Maybe a kid saw it and snatched it. Or a mom.
No, moms don't do things like that :)

I am so sad that happened to you guys. There's so many scared-to-be-in-my-car-alone-again mental things that go along with being robbed. May Christ heal any fear in you and the boys. 'Cause that's tough stuff!

On a lighter note...Does the 3D work on the shark pool? Did you try it too?! I would be tempted to...

aunt mary said...

So, what did the librarian say?