Thursday, December 29, 2011

honest mom, it's not there

I was just going to sleep about midnight Tuesday when my phone rang. It was Alex, with panic in his voice, "Mom! Where's the car?" Alex had just come out of work at the movie theatre to find that the car was not where we had fropped it off for him earlier in the evening. I verified the spot where we left it and he verified that it was not there. "How many cars are in the lot?" I asked him. "Not many, and none of them is your car, Mom!" he assured me. It dawned on me that it must have been stolen. I told him to go back inside and wait, while Andy and I drove to the theatre.

Alex was right, it was gone. Some time between 7pm and midnight, someone made off with our rusty but trusty 1995 Honda Civic. I phoned the police and reported it stolen, then we drove home. In the morning, I called ICBC, then I called our friend Chris, who is also our insurance agent. Both the ICBC Claims person and dear Chris helped me feel a lot better. Apparently 9 out of 10 stolen cars are recovered within a few days. Usually only the door lock and ignition are broken. I'm just hoping that my car is found in one piece and deemed worthy of repair. If it's written off, I won't get much for it, then I have to buy a car.

In the meantime, ICBC pays for a rental car. I'm wondering how long I'll be driving it, if I'll get my car back, where my car is...

I picture it on a side street somewhere in Surrey. Somebody took it because they needed a ride home, or to a drug deal, or both. I'm hoping someone will notice the little old blue car that does not move from its place, and upon closer inspection notices that the door lock is broken and ignition wires are hanging out. They'll call the police, who will call the wrecker. Then they'll call me, and we'll see what happens next.

Talking to people I know, many have experienced this same crime. My neighbour even asked, "Is this the first time your car has been stolen?" So it's something new for me, but sounds like it happens and life goes on. I'm grateful Alex did not come out of work while the thief was breaking into the car. Part of me thinks maybe he wasn't meant to drive himself home that night. Maybe the car was stolen to put him out of the way of something else that wasn't supposed to happen. We'll never know, and I'm glad.

So I'll keep you posted. In the meantime. Look for a rusty little blue Honda Civic with a rear window shelf littered with L and N magnets. It's a good little car. It wants to come home.

question: has your vehicle ever been stolen?

mompoet - dude! where's my car?

2 comments:

Magpie said...

Just so you know... when I bought my 86 honda civic I had numerous friends say "I wonder how long it will be before it's stolen" apparently they are the number one carto be stolen in the LML. Mine never was, but I know a few people who have had theirs stolen 3-5 times, always returned... later on, to much chagrin of the owners who were just really tired from having to call ICBC constantly. I've been told by boys from the fraser valley that civi's make really good drag racers. Mine was never stolen... I only thought it was a couple times when i couldn't remember where I parked and/or walked home without it!

Lynn said...

Yes, My daughter's Honda was stolen off the street near where we live. She was with her sister and I on Vancouver Island when the police came to the door in the middle of the night, waking my husband up asking where our daughter was. Apparently the Honda was involved in a robbery at the local 7-11, then dumped somewhere in Vancouver. The lock and ignition was mangled but still driveable. ICBC wasn't going to give her much money for it, so she drove it until it conked out one day and she sold it to a scrap yard.