"How ya doin?" she asked as the thief slunk off

So what were you thinking at 4:30 yesterday afternoon when I passed you outside my office door, smiled and asked about you? Were you thinking of what you’d do with the little money (about $100) contained in my wallet? Or were you wondering why a stranger would even care about you?

But this anger I feel isn’t so much directed at you as it is for me. What was I thinking leaving my purse hooked to one of the chairs in my office? Why am I such a duh-head and if you must know, lazy? How sanctimonious and bullshit of me to somehow believe that because we’re a non-profit, we are excluded from the fuss and tumble everyone else faces. After all, people come in every day to make house payments. This could have happened a gazillion times in the past seven years, but it hasn’t. Thank you, stranger, for introducing more things to fear in an already fearful life.

The detectives say that you don’t use credit cards, that your only object is cash. Well now, there’s some good news for me. After all, I now have no credit cards, no ATM card, a new checking account with no information printed on the checks other than the account number (and you know how willing merchants are to accept that form of currency), and as usual I procrastinated about Christmas shopping.

So fuck me and fuck you, you waste of DNA. You’re the scum that scum wipes off its feet after a long day in the sewer.

(Apologies for the incoherence. I’m doing the real time forehead slapping since I don’t believe in smileys. But I appreciate the opportunity to vent because everybody else has gotten the game face and “Everything’s cool. It could have been much worse.”)

Owch! I’m sorry for your loss. Have you checked all the trashcans in the lobby?

That is really lousy! I would check with the cleaning staff so that they will be on the lookout for it.

We’re a stand alone building and warehouse a block from the railroad tracks, across the street from the food bank and two blocks from a transitional housing organization. We have a small staff and clean our own office. I went out and prowled the bushes this morning once I realized what happened.

Got to Office Depot at 7 to pick up some supplies to deal with our holiday crunch. At the checkout lane, no wallet. Figured it was in the car/house/office/driveway, but no.

Thanks for your response. It really isn’t such a big deal that I’ll be immobilized. Tomorrow I get to pose for a new driver’s license and I know the trustys will be using that soft-focus lens.

Two detectives just brought mug shots to look at and I was zero help, I suspect. Vivian Oblivion. Never realized how totally not observant I am. They think they know who is doing this and it has been happening all over downtown for the past week, apparently.

I love this line!

That’s incoherent?! In that case, I’m in trouble! I’m sorry about your loss of innocence.

CJ