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Let's Get Serious
back to Ramblings
I know that you probably don’t come to my site for a serious talk. You come to be amused, or maybe to find a pretty picture. But today I’m afraid I have only serious business to discuss with you. I will tell right now that there is a happy ending. But it might not have been so.
Recently Fifinella worked an air show in Maryland at Andrews Air Force Base. She wasn’t flying – she is not quite ready for that yet. But she was there to work the hospitality tent for her team and to provide general ground support for them. Needless to say, she loves being in the middle of all this action.
She had taken lots of pictures so she could share all the fun times with all of us here at home. And she knew I might borrow some of them for a blog entry. She had been checking in with me throughout the weekend, so I was not surprised when the phone rang Sunday afternoon. I figured she was calling me from the airport, while waiting for her flight home. Turns out that it was not the call any parent wants to get.
“Hey,” I said, after checking caller ID, “how are you? Where are you?”
“I’m fine … now. I’m at my gate, waiting for my plane” she said, “although it’s pretty difficult to get through airport security with NO id!”
I could tell her voice sounded funny and that she was on the verge of tears.
“Do I even want to know what happened?” I asked.
“I got robbed!” she wailed.
“Robbed?! How? When? Where? Are you ok?” I demanded.
She proceeded to relate to me what happened. She was returning her rental car and wanted to fill it up with gas before arriving at the airport (Reagan International in Washington, DC). Why? To minimize the charges the team’s sponsor would have to pay the rental car company.
As she pulled into the gas pumps, she thought about the fact that she was a lone female and was not in the safest of neighborhoods. All of her bags and equipment were in the trunk, so the only thing she had to worry about (besides herself) was her purse which, among other things, contained her camera. She put it under the seat and, after getting out, locked the car. At least she thought she locked the car.
As she was pumping gas, she heard a scraping noise. She looked up to see a great big bad guy diving into the front seat of the car, headed straight for her purse. He went in from the driver’s side; she was standing on the other side of the car. So she hadn’t locked the car. She was furious and her immediate reaction was to yell and give chase. Thankfully, some other guys at the gas station got her to stop chasing the bad guy, who jumped into a brand new red Lincoln Navigator with two other bad guys and sped away. She said she almost caught up to him before she heard the yelling telling her to stop.
What if she had caught up to him? What if they had stolen her? What if one of his buddies had shot her? What if …???
I told her she was crazy to have chased after them. So did everyone else.
The entire incident was caught on the surveillance cameras at the gas station.
Several witnesses tried to flag down a nearby cop, but he couldn’t/wouldn’t get involved. The policeman who did finally arrive to take the report said that they had thought they had stopped “this problem at this station” with undercover officers, but apparently it had started up again. No kidding!
So then the fun started. Fifinella had to call upon all of her resources to get herself and her rental car to the airport. She required a tow truck, since she no longer had a driver’s license and therefore couldn’t drive the rental car. That cost almost $200 (not covered by the rental car company). While this was happening, Maverick was busy cancelling various credit/debit cards. Someone else was dealing with the airline, to figure out a way to get her through security without her photo identification. What a mess!
It was a rough time for Fifinella. Those of you have been victims of a crime know what I mean. You feel violated, whether it is “simply” having your purse stolen or something far, far worse (heaven forbid). Those of us close to her counseled her to talk about it, get it out and know that her feelings were normal. Anger, guilt, regret … a swirl of emotions and second-guessing your actions eat up a lot of your time and energy.
A week later the stolen getaway car (the red Lincoln Navigator) was located by police in Maryland. Fifinella received a call from detectives as they were searching the vehicle. They had found her purse, with her wallet, license, cards, and cell phone still in it! Unfortunately, her camera was missing.
The detective who phoned her said, “I can’t believe you gave chase.”
“I did,” replied Fifinella, “because it was just a gut reaction. I know now that it was a really dumb thing to do.”
“You bet it was,” he said, “I’m looking at your ID. You’re 5’4” of NOTHING! What were you thinking?!”
“I told you! I wasn’t – thinking, that is! I was just reacting!”
“Well, don’t do it again. They tried to car-jack another young woman. She wasn’t nearly as lucky as you were. She’s pretty beat up and is missing several teeth.”
Just writing this still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. This could have ended very differently. We could have gotten a call from a hospital, or a morgue. Or we could still be looking for Fifinella.
I wish I could send Electric Horseman with her as her protector … like I did when she was just a little tyke. And you can bet that both Maverick and Electric Horseman were spoiling for a fight. The testosterone was flowing. The helplessness for all of us was incredibly frustrating.
Tell your daughters, and your sisters, and your mothers, all the women in your life … to be careful. Your purse, or your wallet, or your camera just isn’t worth it. Give it up. Let them have it. Life is too short, and too precious.
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Maverick, Fifinella & their dog, Mayday |
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