Then, on Friday, we woke up to rain. Discussing it with the boys, we decided to break out the bakfiets's stylin' red rain cover for the first time this school year. I set up the cover, got it all adjusted, and S and C climbed up and under. They were looking so darn cute, I had to go back in our apartment to get the camera to capture the moment (plus, gotta think ahead for that blog post, right?).
As I was lining the boys up, snapping away, a neighbor walked by, hesitated and said, "Uh, that is your car, right?" pointing to our desert sand-colored minivan (yes, that is the color Toyota named it). She proceeded to point out that one of the back windows streetside was all smashed up. UGH.
It seemed like a pure act of vandalism, or I guess the smashers weren't particularly interested in stealing three booster seats and a bunch of kids' books. I remained calm through it all. Even though I was bummed, we've been parking on the street for over two years and this was our first broken window/possible theft.
The boys, however, got very quiet and solemn and even a bit teary. It was as if they just couldn't believe anyone would ever do such a thing. "Oh well," I soothed, "These sorts of things can happen sometimes when you live in a city, but think of all the great things we get to experience here, too." Remember, these were the kids who spent four years in rural Maine and were outraged when we started locking our front door when we moved here.
And then we took off, pedaling to school. By the time we arrived, their moods had lifted significantly. And yeah, windows can get smashed anywhere. Aren't we lucky we get to bike commute to school together?
7 comments:
SUCKS! I had the exact same thing happen in July. I was walking out towards the garage and thought, "hey that's funny, the reflection of the sky is really weird in the window."
It was smashed beyond belief, with shards still pokey and all. It's not personal, but it sure sucks. And it's a pain. Getting a window replaced on the car I don't often drive... not a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.
Good thing my father-in-law has a shop vac. Glass was everywhere:( And the gigantic rock they threw at the car was in the driver's seat too!
This is LAME, both about your van and the bike shop. I can relate to your boys' response - it's hard not to take this random violence as a personal attack. I've experienced all of this at some point (car vandalism, home burgled, bike stolen), and every time it has made me more paranoid and cautious about securing my stuff. Not a fun lesson to learn through personal experience.
I think that that part of NH is a car theft training ground. B's car was broken into sev times. He has a crappy 12 yr Sentra E class car. His windows got smashed and the locked ripped out and the radio pulled out. All useless theft/breakins. We were sure it was training. It sucks. lock up the bakfiet well. my neighbors had 1000's of $$ worth of road bikes stolen from our garage too. sucks sucks sucks.
nonetheless, i am sorry that it happened
That is SUCH a bummer...and not just because it prevented me seeing you this weekend. It's so hard to watch your kids come to the realization that the world is not always a kind and gentle place.
I'm sorry this happened, never a good feeling to be robbed.
aw, that really sucks to have your window smashed. but don't think of it as an unavoidable nuisance of living in a city, per se. in my experience, i've had more petty damage to my cars when in the country or small towns than when in a city. i've gotten dents, scratches, and yes-- broken windows, in small towns, but in over eight years of not only owning a car in the boston area, but *street* parking in said area for the entire time, i haven't experienced anything more severe than parking scrapes! [knocks on wood...]
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