It's a collection of things
So, yeah. Late last Sunday, I got robbed.
It had been a long day--shooting at the Comic Con all day, immediately going to three hours' worth of derby practice, and then I went straight to the comic con after party. I'm normally careful with my things, on these busy sorts of days when I might have to leave them in the car for a bit. I'll cover them up, or hide them away in the trunk, usually. But, I had my bike with me, and I can't physically open the trunk when my bike is attached to it, so I wasn't so careful this time.
After a lively evening of drinks and geekery, a friend and I ambled towards my car to head home, and when I opened the driver's side door, the dome light popped on, and I saw the wreckage of the broken-out rear-passenger-side window.
I didn't even know how to process it, honestly. I'm pretty sure I just sat there with my mouth hanging open, looking confused and wild-eyed for several minutes. I pointed to the floor behind the driver's seat and said, "you know what was there? My camera..." And then I moaned about my skate bag, which had been on the back seat.
I dropped off my friend and headed home. Joe woke up a bit when I came in--he'd apparently noticed that I was in a foul mood, based on my footfalls. He asked how I was, and I told him what had happened. He immediately leaped out of bed, hugged me, and told me to file a police report. Then, he got on his computer and started a donation page, asking people to throw in a few bucks to help me replace my things.
I slogged through a Monday filled with insurance claims, phone calls, and a full workday on 3 hours of sleep. Throughout the day, people messaged me, e-mailed me, texted me, offering to let me borrow their skates, their kneepads, their cameras. And, when I got home from work, Joe sat me down in front of the computer, and showed me all of the donations he'd received, in the 15-or-so hours since it happened. There was close to $1200 raised, in less than a day. And, as I looked through each of those names, I finally cried.
I'm still waiting on some of the insurance claims to clear up, but some of that is wrapped up, at least--it's taken claims through three different insurance policies (car, renter's, and business), but minus deductibles, the losses and the damages are all covered to at least some degree.
In the meantime, I did get to skate on Wednesday evening, thanks to loaner skates from an old Fresh Meat friend, and a whole case of loaner pads and wheels from a derby friend who recently retired. I was able to do the photoshoot I had booked early on Thursday morning with a reasonably-familiar camera, thanks to a league photograher's backup D7000. Things don't quite feel normal, but they're closer to normal than I expected them to be in just a scant few days.
I've gotten a lot of support and a lot of hugs from the people I hold dear, in a very short time. Joe has been a champion throughout--checking in on me, cooking dinner, gathering friends to surround me with warm feelings, and just being the supportive and warm human he always is. It's all an incredibly bright spot amongst a lot of aggravation. It's what keeps me from getting caught up in those flashes of anger about the things I won't get to share with the people I care about, because those things were taken away before I could give them.
I only hope I can repay all of this in some way. I don't know how, yet, but as with most things, maybe I'll be able hack something together and make it work. :)
It had been a long day--shooting at the Comic Con all day, immediately going to three hours' worth of derby practice, and then I went straight to the comic con after party. I'm normally careful with my things, on these busy sorts of days when I might have to leave them in the car for a bit. I'll cover them up, or hide them away in the trunk, usually. But, I had my bike with me, and I can't physically open the trunk when my bike is attached to it, so I wasn't so careful this time.
After a lively evening of drinks and geekery, a friend and I ambled towards my car to head home, and when I opened the driver's side door, the dome light popped on, and I saw the wreckage of the broken-out rear-passenger-side window.
I didn't even know how to process it, honestly. I'm pretty sure I just sat there with my mouth hanging open, looking confused and wild-eyed for several minutes. I pointed to the floor behind the driver's seat and said, "you know what was there? My camera..." And then I moaned about my skate bag, which had been on the back seat.
I dropped off my friend and headed home. Joe woke up a bit when I came in--he'd apparently noticed that I was in a foul mood, based on my footfalls. He asked how I was, and I told him what had happened. He immediately leaped out of bed, hugged me, and told me to file a police report. Then, he got on his computer and started a donation page, asking people to throw in a few bucks to help me replace my things.
I slogged through a Monday filled with insurance claims, phone calls, and a full workday on 3 hours of sleep. Throughout the day, people messaged me, e-mailed me, texted me, offering to let me borrow their skates, their kneepads, their cameras. And, when I got home from work, Joe sat me down in front of the computer, and showed me all of the donations he'd received, in the 15-or-so hours since it happened. There was close to $1200 raised, in less than a day. And, as I looked through each of those names, I finally cried.
I'm still waiting on some of the insurance claims to clear up, but some of that is wrapped up, at least--it's taken claims through three different insurance policies (car, renter's, and business), but minus deductibles, the losses and the damages are all covered to at least some degree.
In the meantime, I did get to skate on Wednesday evening, thanks to loaner skates from an old Fresh Meat friend, and a whole case of loaner pads and wheels from a derby friend who recently retired. I was able to do the photoshoot I had booked early on Thursday morning with a reasonably-familiar camera, thanks to a league photograher's backup D7000. Things don't quite feel normal, but they're closer to normal than I expected them to be in just a scant few days.
I've gotten a lot of support and a lot of hugs from the people I hold dear, in a very short time. Joe has been a champion throughout--checking in on me, cooking dinner, gathering friends to surround me with warm feelings, and just being the supportive and warm human he always is. It's all an incredibly bright spot amongst a lot of aggravation. It's what keeps me from getting caught up in those flashes of anger about the things I won't get to share with the people I care about, because those things were taken away before I could give them.
I only hope I can repay all of this in some way. I don't know how, yet, but as with most things, maybe I'll be able hack something together and make it work. :)