I wuz robburgled...

We go to Virginia Beach every year, and I've never worried about leaving my stuff on the beach.  But I did a number of things that, in retrospect, made my more susceptible to a robbery.  What is it called, anyway--it's supposed to be a robbery when you're held up, and a burglary when it's in your home and your not there at the time of the break in.  So what's it called when you leave your bag on the beach unattended and come back to find it gone?  Guess I was robburgled.

I had decided to go the the beach in the morning, after my free "yoga on the beach" class--I was tired of getting out there at 4 or 5pm with the family.  The guys didn't want to go that early; I thought it would be nice to have some "alone time".  So here are my missteps:

- going by myself (an easier target), at a time when the beach wasn't very crowded
- finding a spot on the perimeter (as the policeman called it)
- not having others nearby, and not being near (enough) to the lifeguard
- taking my droid and using it
- packing other valuable stuff, especially a good watch.

And of course, leaving it unattended for maybe 10-15 minutes while I hung out at the shore lien.

I pride myself on being street smart, but didn't think I had to be.  I actually think someone was probably watching me, and saw the above--I was easy prey.  It' was so disorienting when I went back to my towel.  Because my towel and sandals were there, but not my striped beach bag.  I first looked around, thinking someone nearby had it--maybe it blew off the towel.  Not likely.  Maybe my son and husband had stopped by and taken it.  No, why would they do that?  Please tell me it wasn't stolen--I had not just my droid and watch, but my (very expensive) prescription glasses and clipons; my nearly brand new Lululemon yoga pants (serves me right for buying $90 yoga pants, I thought); a beach hat I had just bought; an East Coast Surfing Championship t shirt from some years back that's probably no longer available.  Oh, and my Eat, Pray, Love book that I had just purchased and begun to read (yes, I'm a couple of years behind in my reading).

I went to the lifeguard to tell him that I thought my stuff had been stolen, and he called the police.  I heard them ask if I had the right location.  I wish that were the case--but since my towel and shoes were still there, I knew I was in the spot where I also had left the bag.  As I was waiting for the police to show up, I looked around in a few trash bins, hoping the robburglar(s) had tossed the bag pretty quickly.  I'm thinking it's more likely they stuffed it in another bag and walked off, so my bag wouldn't be visible, and then went somewhere else to rummage through it and toss the bag.  At least that's how I would do it--walk, don't run, and hide the bag as fast as possible.  So if no one sees you pick up the bag, they won't suspect anything.  Then walk away.

Took the beach police maybe 10-15 minutes to get there (via bicycle).  The policeman said such thefts happen all the time--especially when the beach is less crowded, and the bag is unattended and on the perimemter of the area where people are sitting.  So the action would be behind them.  He suggested I continue looking in the trash bins on the beach, and said they would look along the boardwalk.  As I was talking to him my husband and son came by, so they helped me look through trash bins maybe 1/4 mile around the area of the theft.

I had thought about wearing the hat, my glasses, and my watch to the shoreline, since I wasn't planning to go in the water.  But I didn't--can I please have that decision back?  Other than feeling stupid, I was most upset about losing my glasses.  But I kept my composure throughout, and didn't complain--my son is so sensitive, I didn't want to upset him.  And I kept telling myself I lost only material things.  Although we all lost our naivete about life at the beach.  My son wanted to make sure we didn't put our stuff near the perimeter when we went to the beach a day and a half later (rain had intervened), and I made sure I didn't take anything valuable--anything left, that is.  I never take much on vacations.

I kept hoping we or someone would find the bag, or that I'd see someone with it and confront them (they'd have to be pretty stupid to carry the striped bag around, wouldn't they).  But we didn't.  So I spent 2 1/2 days not being able to see--but rarely mentioned it.  I did get a new droid out of it--and was able to get the droid2, which just came out on Aug. 10.  And with an upgrade deal and coupon, we paid $100 instead of $300.  The new droid has improved on some aspects of the original droid--especially the pullout keyboard, which is not as wide and thus easier to use.

We went to see The Expendables, which is the kind of movie where not having glasses for distance doesn't matter--everything was bombastic (literally), and I could tell the characters apart well enough.  And when I couldn't, it didn't seem to matter.  I knew it was the kind of movie where the (relatively) good guys would win, and none of them would be killed.  So they can do a sequel.

I'm wearing my old glasses now, while waiting for my replacement lenses.  They gave me a 20% discount, because I had just bought the glasses in May.  But they were still expensive...