What We Found Out About Our Stolen Car

This morning I was startled awake when my husband asked me where I’d parked the car.  I told him in the driveway, and he said it’s not there.

Our driveway is steep, and if the transmission were to fail, it would roll down to our neighbor’s back yard, so hubby went walking down there to see if that had happened.  On his way, he saw a car 5 doors down the street with its reverse lights on, but faint and not moving.  Turns out, that was our missing car.

The car was in reverse, but the engine dead.  There was not enough juice in the battery to start the engine, but the lights were on and dim.  The driver’s side door was open, as was the glove box and the center console.  Though it was in reverse, the car was pulled up so that the front tires were against the curb, but they were not turned.  The passenger side door had been opened and not closed properly.  The weird part was, the GPS was left on the dash, my cards were still under the mess on the floor, and there was a ring of decent value I’d left on the passenger seat.  All of this was still there.  I even begun to think it was a prank by God only knows who.  All I knew was I was FURIOUS. 

Just before the local PD arrived, I also remembered that last night our dog had been giving a low growl.  Not the kind that is freaking out like he does for wild life, but a warning growl that he gives when sometimes someone’s out in the street, which at 10 at night, around here the kids are sometimes out at the basketball court, so we didn’t really think much of it.  With a new battery in the car, and where the battery level was when we found it, the timeline now makes sense,

I kept trying to figure out why our car seemed to be the only one hit, and why they’d leave it where they did.

When PD did arrive, the guy was already tired, and explained it was going to be a long morning.  We were the second stolen car he was working on this morning, and he said he expects more.  I asked why that was, and he tells me:

Overnight a guy ran from PD.  They caught him on R Ave, across town from me.  When they found him, they found he had a backpack full of prescription medications with addresses from various points around town, including several from a block away from us. 

After PD left, I was walking back to the house to feed the kids, who were waking up, as Hubbster was trying to get the car to start, when I realized that there is another car, left in place, but rifled through three doors down from me.  That same house has another car on the street with the keys sitting out on the seat that was left untouched.   It would appear the rest of our things were left behind because he was looking for medications, and that he was just hitting every few cars as he went along, got to the end, and found ours an easy get away.  NO idea why he left it, except maybe either he saw the car seats and grew a conscience, or, with the passenger door being oddly opened, he may have not been alone, but realized that with my mess, there was no place for his buddy, and left it at that point.

"Why the Hell should I thank a Vet?"

   Years ago I received a death threat simply for my employment.  I was in the Navy.  See, a fellow from Bellingham thought I was of interest to speak to…. Until he learned I was a Sailor.  Next thing I knew, I was, “The Enemy”, a “hateful murderer”, and a whole variety of other lovely things.  He was so offended by my employment that he told me that I’d better sleep with one eye open, “because I will haunt you for the rest of your life.  I will track down your family and everyone you love.  You are a murdering pig, and you have no right to live.” 

   

   Okay, so he was a tad extreme.  But I had thought of this many times over the years.  In our “conversation”, I had tried to explain to the guy that all I did for the Navy, at that time, was paint airplanes.  (He said it didn’t matter.  I was military and that means I was still the enemy.  He was real sane….) 

   

   When I think back, I remember my lame attempt at a defense, and realize it was true.  All I did was paint planes.  So, now I’m a Vet, and I keep hearing that people need to thank me and all of the other Vets.  I know of other people who did no more than clean floors and toilets, but they are Vets.  Should we thank them?  Paper pushers, cooks, are they worthy of a thank you?

   

   YOU HAD BETTER DAMN WELL BELIEVE THEY ARE!!!

   

   But the question, then, is why?

   

   We’re in a war many believe is not our own.  We hear that our military fights for our rights, and yet we wonder how if they are all in foreign countries defending the rest of the world.  We complain how our soldiers aren’t really defending us, but the wars of our politicians, motivated by oil and money.  So if our military is defending others, how are we to thank them for defending our shores and rights?

   

   As someone who served 14 years, I thought many times over, “I’m not doing anything for my country, why do people keep saying I’m fighting for the USA?”

   

   Allow me to shed some light on this subject.  There is a big myth out there that the soldier/sailor/marine/airman blindly follows orders and is required to agree with everything our government does.  This is not true.  We are all people, just like the average civilian.   We vote, we have our own opinions, we disagree…  There are many people, right now as I type this, that wear our uniforms and carry our weapons, halfway around the world from their families, following orders, in countries they maybe aren’t comfortable in, may have no interest in, possibly want nothing to do with, and in war zones they perhaps don’t believe they should be involved in. 

   

   The fellow in my opening story argued that if we don’t agree with our orders, we shouldn’t enlist; shouldn’t follow those orders.  But here is exactly why you SHOULD thank today’s Vet.  WE KNOW WE ARE VOLUNTEERING TO DO SOMETHING WE MAY NOT BELIEVE IN, FOR THE BETTER GOOD.  That’s right.  The average Veteran, as they looked at that enlistment contract knew they wanted to do right; they wanted to serve their country.  But the average serviceperson knew, as they signed that contract, that they were going to be asked into conflicts they may not agree with, and they might even feel is downright wrong.  But they knew that in order for the United States of America (the country and home that they love) to survive, we require a military presence.

   

   If the USA had no military, we’d be gone before we could blink.  The rest of the world, like us or not, knows we have a rich, fertile, and beautiful chunk of land.  If for no other reason, you can bet that without the simple existence of our military, someone somewhere would walk right in and wipe us out, and we’d no longer have the USA. 

   

   The service member, the Vet, understands this.  They understand that they are sacrificing, or have sacrificed, their own beliefs to “blindly” follow our orders, because in the big picture, it IS what keeps our country free and our families safe. 

   

   On top of that, they sacrifice their time with friends and family, risk relationships, and threaten their own life and limbs to walk into conflicts they may or may not agree with, that may go totally against everything they believe in, just because they know that the fact that we have a military is what keeps our country safe. 

   

   So yes, thank a vet.

   

   Thank you, to everyone from commanding officers to pooper cleaners, and everyone in between.  The simple fact that you raised your hand, wear/wore that uniform, and show/showed up to work every day when the world is/was against you…. You are important.  You ARE fighting for our country.  You ARE what is keeping our country safe.  And I thank each and every one of you, no matter if you are black or white (or anything in between), male or female, old or young, gay or straight, republican or democrat, SEAL or First Lieutenant.  You are making a huge difference.

   

   Of course, I know this only scratches the surface of why our Veterans are so important, but I think that many of our Veterans (and civilians) feel that just because we may not have seen combat, and in direct defense of our shores, we aren’t worth the thanks that maybe a World War Vet deserves.  Our Vets need to hear that we do care, that we do appreciate the sacrifices they make, and that we do appreciate them.   So on this Veteran’s Day, take a look at how you really think of the Vets you know, and give them thanks, because no matter what their jobs were or are.   They do keep us safe and free.