Bad Day

Last week someone stole my bag. It had all my belongings in there. My laptop, my camera, my wallet, my keys, some notes. Everything is gone. It happened on thursday evening. I stayed late in the lab with Weiwei. We planned to go buy some new stuff for her hamsters (and came back with the cutest fish!). Then we decided to go to SanSai for some food, but on our way there I remembered I had to buy bread for breakfast the next day and Weiwei had to buy some salad. We passed Trader Joe’s so decided to stop quickly. My laptop was in the trunk, under a bunch of junk. As I planned to do some more work at night in my flat, I took my computer and some notes home with me. We parked the car right in front of the entrance of the shop, in the parking garage. We opened the trunk, and without taking the bag out I quickly grabbed some change from the front pocket of my bag. We closed the trunk and car and went inside. It took us 2 minutes, absolutely not a second more, to buy the bread and salad and go back to the car. I walked towards the passenger side and found glass on the ground. It didnt hit me the first second but then I saw the backseat had been opened inside. Weiwei opened the trunk and yep, bag was gone. It looked like they tried jamming the passengers door first, but then just hit through the glass. I never leave my bag in the car, this was the very first time, and this is what happens. Weiwei ran towards the exit to try find someone or something, but they were gone. I got slightly hysterical when realising all my belongings had just been taken from me. Some lady stopped to see if I was alright. I asked people if they seen anything, but nothing. It was 8pm, the parking was garage was busy, nobody saw shit. I cannot believe how fast they did this. Me and Weiwei both remember 2 guys and a girl walked past us when we opened the trunk those 5 seconds. Probably they saw something there. That or someone followed us from when I put the bag in the trunk before. We will never know. The police was called immediately. Of course the parking garage is like the single one in Pasadena that does not have security cameras. ‘Rented so not our resposibility’ is what the people from Trader Joe’s said. So the LAPD came, they even called in a forensic team, which seemed there just for show. They said they couldnt find a single fingerprint on the car. I guess me and Weiwei come from a planet where people are born without fingerprints. Weird. The detective asked me a bunch of questions but it sounded all useless. Moreover, he was totally rude to me. As I was upset I had a hard time staying polite to him, so he then said he did not have any further questions and if I wanted to talk to him more I could call him at the office. He never answered my calls. The next day I got called by a detective from South Pasadena: someone had found my wallet near the railway. Its not the best neighbourhood out there, and of course nobody saw anything. I later went to have a look with Chris, but there was nothing else. I didnt have a single dollar in my wallet so at least they did not get any money. Left with nothing I went to the lab, to use the phone so I could call to Belgium and Spain to block my banc accounts. Later I also called my insurance, and my mum (thanx Martina and Stefano, and Demo and Sheryl!). I had to call CalTech Security to let them know, and most importantly: to come help me get inside my flat. The security guy was actually really nice. He asked me all sorts of details the LAPD didnt even bother about, but that I think could be important. Like those 2 guys and the girl we saw, what they looked like and if they had any special things like tattoo’s or clothes that stand out. At least he asked if I was ok and needed anything and eventually he brought me home to my flat. As my keys were in the bag and my address trackable via my cards or data in my laptop the security promised to keep an extra eye on our flat that night. The next day they made sure I got new keys and came to check on me, very thankfull to them!!! Pasadena currently has a problem with crime. Seems like there is a gang that steals anything they can get their hands on. The same night my bag got stolen, some people attempted to steal Demo’s car. He heard them and managed to chase them away. Sheryl’s car also got broken into, exact same way as Weiwei’s, and Jagan’s house got broken into, personal belongings worth thousands of dollars were taken.
Poor Weiwei’s car damaged and she feels responsible for what happened. If anybody, I’m to blame for leaving the bag in the trunk. She’s been very nice in helping me buy a new laptop and chosing a new camera. The most important thing is that nothing bad happened to us. It was just one bad day for me to forget as soon as possible: consider it done.