So as I said, I am going to strive to write more. I’ve been very lax and I don’t want to be lax.
This is almost 2 weeks overdue. But 2 Wednesdays ago, our day off, my day turned suddenly awry. I had gone to the gym in the morning to . . . well, . . . . work out. About half an hour to 40 minutes before I finished my work out, I was starting to get a headache so I went into the dressing room to get some Advil. I got the Advil, and finished my work out. When I went back into the dressing room, I went to my locker and someone else’s lock was on my locker!!!!!!! “What the . . .??” I had to stop and think for a minute . . . have I had a stoke? Did I actually use a different locker? Is this some alternate universe? Am I being punk’d? Once I realized that I know I had used that locker, I also realized that the stuff I could see inside it was not my stuff. So what then also became clear is that . . . someone had clearly stolen my stuff and long enough ago that someone else had come in and used the”empty” locker. I WAS ROBBED AT THE GYM!!! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! My backpack which had my phone, a favorite sweater, and my satchel (or man-bag) which had everything in it. I will tell you what “everything” consisted of later.
Once I came to this inevitable conclusion, I told the attendant in the room vacuuming what had happened and he told me to go the front desk and report it. The manager I talked to was instantly attentive. We both went back downstairs to the locker room and did a sweep of lockers. Another attendant joined us and he went to see if someone had that locker to find out if it was indeed empty when he put his stuff in there. While the second attendant was searching for the new occupant of my locker (bastard – okay it’s not his fault but I’m still mad at him), the manager started searching the bathroom area and found my backpack under the sink. Hooray!!!! With the sweater still in it. Hooray!! But my satchel missing. BOO!!! But my phone was still in a pocket of the backpack. Hooray!!
I’m so happy my phone was still there. That was what really had be freaked. I have NO ONE’S number other than in my phone. Aaarghhhh!! *Note to self: write numbers down. But they got my satchel which had everything in it. And by everything I mean (sigh) my American credit/debit card, my Canadian debit card, my Canadian credit card, my passport, my gym card, my keys, my laundry card, my Equity Card, my Macy’s card, my Barnes and Noble card, my Social Security card, my Metro card, my U.S. health insurance card, plus $40 cash. Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!
Oh my people, it was horrifying. So I called the police and two officers arrived and took all of the info. I should mention here that while I was filling out the report, I remembered that I also had tickets in my wallet. The cast had gotten tickets to see Phantom Of The Opera for the matinee that afternoon. I had invited a couple of friends and a friend in Priscilla asked me to give his tickets to a friend, as he was going to be busy. They were all going to meet me at the theatre so I had to call everyone and tell them “Oops, sorry, your tickets have been stolen.” Ugh! Anyway, the police said that there are a lot of robberies at that gym and I knew that. (I really should lock my shit up in the small protected valuable lockers upstairs.) And let’s face it, lots of gyms are crime scenes – sad but true. But they were really trying to catch this person/people so they asked if I could come down to the station. Well, I figured I’m always up for a new experience, so I said sure.
What a trip. I have to say, the NYPD peeps I came into contact with couldn’t have been nicer. The officers who answered the call were great guys. And the detective at the precinct who took care of the details was great. A buxom, efficient, no-nonsense lady who was clearly crackerjack at her job. We got in touch with the Canadian debit card and credit card and found out the robber had managed to get some money out of my credit card already but they would do an investigation and put it back in to my account. (Thank God). Otherwise no further damage.
The cops where so awesome. By the end of my “visit” I had them laughing and taking down my website and the name of the show I was in, thinking of taking their girlfriends. [You’re welcome, Priscilla.] After we were done, they drove me home which was very nice of them and gave me a piece of paper to use for a new passport and show that I was, in fact, robbed. Yikes.
Then began the next adventure. I had to get into my apartment. Luckily I have a superintendant who is amazing. I called him and he met me at the front of the building and let me in. Because I had no keys now (I had a spare set . . . IN THE APARTMENT) he had to get a drill to drill the lock open, then replace the lock and give me new keys. Bless his heart. Then he asked if I needed money. I told him no but thank you.
So it was good to get into my apartment. I had something to eat, then showered (remember, my stuff as stolen as I finished my workout), got dressed and readied myself to head back downtown to my bank to get a new debit/credit card. But, of course, no more metrocard!! Did I mention that I had just bought a 30 day metro card for $110 only 5 days before??? Yeah . . . . . . . aaaaaaanyway. So I have to beg someone to use their unlimited card to let me into the subway. It takes 3 trains of people coming out but finally a good samaritan lets me in. Okay, on my way. I got to my bank and luckily had an expired beginner’s drivers licence, which was the only ID I had with my picture on it. They were great and gave me a new card and I was able to get money out again (Hooray!!).
So that was the immediate damage under control for now. I knew I would have days and weeks of repairing all of that damage but at least I had money. By this time, it was 5:15. I was going to see a friend’s show at 8:00 that night, so it was a perfect time to have some dinner, let go of the days events and go relax at a show. I should say here that I was actually not really stressed about any of this. I got really calm when I realized I was robbed. I felt like it was just another new experience and I would know how to deal with this sort of thing after this.
Anyway, (yes there’s more) so I have a fun meal – a namesake burger from Five-Napkin-Burger, and a salted caramel milkshake . . . that’s right, I said a salted caramel milkshake and I’m not sorry about that – and head off for the subway. Her show is in Queens and it’s the second last stop so I give myself an hour and a half. I won’t draw this out making you think something went wrong with my subway. Nothing went wrong. It was one subway and then a shuttle and took about an hour. I got there and picked up the ticket she left for me. I sat down in the lobby and suddenly she was standing there with full beat on (make-up) and in a hoodie. It was great to see her as I hadn’t in a while, but she tells me that the show may have to be cancelled cause the sound guy has disappeared. DISAPPEARED!! What??!!! Literally he was there for rehearsal, they all went for dinner and he never came back and it was half hour until show time. Needless to say, I burst out laughing. So we sat and chatted. At about 10 minutes to 8, one of the producers comes out and tells us that the show is cancelled. [Side note: she told me the next day that the sound guy was arrested for unpaid parking tickets – HI-larious]. So we finished talking and then at 8 they went into the theatre to have a rehearsal of new changes instead. And I . . . . went home. I figured that was enough for one day . . . and then some. And that was the end of the day. I went home watched TV and went to bed early. It was a long, loong day. (I’ve just written the word “day” about 563 times in the last 5 sentences.)
In the after math, I’ve just been putting things back together. Put in a new passport application, other cards are coming, etc. It’s all fixable. It’s just about getting in touch with everyone. It really wasn’t horrible, it’s just inconvenient. But well, . . . . what an experience.
Thom Allison 