On a simple trip to Wal Mart yesterday morning to pick up a pair of gym shorts, my wallet was stolen. From my purse. Which was sitting in the seat at the top of the basket. I should have been more careful, not left my purse there (yes, I’ve been told this before). And in the end, the cost was not small.
Here’s what happened: While I was looking over the racks, my basket nearby and always within touching range, a large woman came into my personal space, leaned in and asked if there were any XXL shorts on the rack where I was. I spotted one and pointed it out and moved on. I put a tank top and shorts on top of my purse and walked around the end of the rack. The woman was in my face again, saying “You know kids today, they like them baggy. Does this say 3X?” She held it up and squinted as if she couldn’t quite see the size, and I noticed she was wearing glasses. Hey, I wear glasses and squint to see things sometimes, too, especially in that haloed glare of Wal Mart fluorescence.
“Yes, it says 3X.”
I took my basket to the check out, and opened my purse. My wallet was gone. My stomach sank to my toes, but I remembered I’d gotten something from my purse before I left home, so I told the checker to hold my items, I’d run home and get my wallet (I live less than a mile from the store). Speeding toward home, though, I knew the wallet wasn’t going to be there. A gut feeling about the woman asking questions and remembering a vague sense of discomfort told me I’d been robbed.
I was right.
I dashed back to the store, reported the crime and gave a description of the woman and what I believed happened – that I was distracted so a thief could slip a hand under the flap of my purse and take the wallet. A scam as old as earth itself. The store personnel assured me they would review the surveillance cameras and get back in touch with me (they haven’t). By now I have a terrible sense of dread over how I’m going to untangle the mess.
I called the first credit card company. A purchase had already been made at Best Buy within 15 minutes of the wallet being stolen. The same for the debit card. The third (and last) card had been charged more than $3300!! All within half an hour.
Max came home to help me sort it out. We filed a police report, set up an account with a credit monitoring company, got my driver’s license replaced. We went to the bank and filed a report to have charges removed and changed my account number. And somewhere in all of that, I remembered that I carried a spare house key in the change pocket of the wallet. Max replaced all the locks on our doors.
Raw emotion bubbled through me all day as I explained time and again what happened, the shame I felt at being targeted and robbed. The rage that a stranger had a power over me and made me look stupid. In some ways I was. The cash ($30) was gone, but my ID and the credit cards could be replaced. As could my wallet. I will have minimal charges (if any) that I’m liable for. But the thing that hurts the most is that my faith in humankind was stolen. My trusting spirit ripped from its hinges.
It was a wake-up call for me to be more aware, more careful. But even now, I wonder – will I look at strangers with suspicious eyes? Will I shun little old ladies who ask for help? Will this feeling of vulnerability shadow me? Have I learned my lesson?
I admit, I have no compassion for the people who did this – for those who do it every single day to other innocent people. My own naivete has been stripped raw. I’m sadder now. And wiser. But mostly sad.