An unexpected stranger’s ‘knock’ on the door, can often bring, good, bad or indifferent news. To a degree our generation have been freed from the dreaded ‘telegram’ era. So if it’s not the big prize from ERNIE, a local MP, Amazon, or a pair of JWs, then the police are probably the least expected of callers.
It’s strange how when some form of misfortune occurs, it’s normal to rewind preceding events. Make an effort to understand how this particular point in time was reached. As if that would somehow make sense of what’s happened. Help us to accept the outcome. We list a series of ‘if only’s’ and ‘I could have’s’ or ‘why didn’t I’s’. Imagining a slightly different course of action could have been a prevention. A sort of Sliding Doors syndrome.
Perhaps that’s true in some cases. But often it’s the randomness that’s most difficult to come to terms with. It can simply be a question of ‘wrong place, wrong time’.
REWIND . . . on Tuesday 29th August at 10.15am I took Scoot out for a short ride to boost his battery and to fill up with petrol. In readiness for this MOHO trip. When not in use Scoot is usually stored in our home garage, or Beastie’s. The plan was to pre-load the garage, with Scoot as priority. However, the heavens opened, so I covered Scoot, with the intention of doing it tomorrow AND forgot to put the wheel lock on. If only . . . I could have . . . why didn’t I . . . ???
FAST FORWARD thirteen hours approx . . . it’s not quite dawn. The doorbell sounds. I glance down from our bedroom window. A person in hi-viz stands outside the porch door. My immediate thought is “what the hell time is this for a delivery?” Check the clock. It’s 5.41am.
In fact it’s two hi-viz jackets. The one asks me “Are you Brian?” . . . “Yes”. Then he half turns and says “Is there usually a scooter under that cover?” . . .
According to the police they think the thief skidded and came off Scoot and then left him in the middle of the A35 Lyndhurst Road. A passing motorist had phoned it in.
Whoever it was, knew what they were doing. Front panel ripped off, in order to hot-wire a start.
Oddly, I wasn’t angry. Just frustrated and annoyed with myself. A later prayer for the thief/joy-rider, that they may turn away from crime, helped me not to dwell on the whole situation longer than was necessary.