The Purse Snatcher

Have you ever stopped to think about how much your purse is worth? I never had either, until the police officer had me list everything in my purse, item by item, along with a dollar value. It was by far, the most expensive trip to Kohl's I've ever experienced.

Mike had a business trip away from home Tuesday evening. When I asked my mom what she wanted to do for dinner sans Mikey, she suggested we head to Kohl's and go out to eat because she had a 20% off coupon. Since I knew I wouldn't be able to work while Bo was awake anyway, I agreed, and we left immediately after school to head to Eff.ing.ham.

When we arrived at Kohl's, I put Bo in one of their strange stroller carts, placing my purse in the bottom of the cart. I specifically said to Mom, "Remind me to get this out when we leave." Mom and I moseyed our way through the store. Our purchases consisted solely of items for Bo.

At the checkout line, Mom was paying and I grabbed Bo out of the cart. (To give you a timeline this was about 5:20.) Mom pushed forward the cart and I kicked it the rest of the way forward to join the other carts with Bo in one arm and packages in the other. We started walking toward the car and it was mere seconds before I realized that my purse was still in the cart. I threw the bags on the ground by the car, handed Bo to my mom, and ran back inside.

Unfortunately, I was already too late.

I looked in all of the carts, told the sales clerks, they announced for people to look in their carts for a purse, and I did a mad dash around the store peering in all of the carts. No luck. I did two run throughs and then went back out to tell Mom. I carried Bo and the packages back into the store to stalk the checkout counters for carts that might contain my purse. I passed Bo off to my mom multiple times and cased the store, peering in carts. I'm sure I was creeping out the other shoppers.

Eventually, I left Mom up front while I went out to check the car. Which amazingly, was unlocked. Thank God. I ended up feeding Bo "moose munch" in the car while Mom watched the checkout lines. A manager was back looking at camera footage while all of this was going on. Finally, about 6:30, the manager hit the jackpot. Someone did take the cart as soon as I walked out of the store. They have footage and it is obvious that she saw what was in the cart and took it. They are also pretty sure they can get a plate off of her car in the parking lot as she is leaving. At least at this point we knew the purse was actually gone, and not randomly walking around the store in some unsuspecting strangers cart.

Unfortunately, this didn't solve the ultimate dilemma. Mom, Bo, and I were still an hour from home. Mike is away for the night. And there are no keys to start the car.

Luckily, the managers were very nice and took us to their breakroom while I called Mandy (pop over and say hi, she finally started a blog!) and pleaded for her to come rescue us. The police officer took my report there while I fed Bo turkey, cheese, and bread, (we won't talk about how unhealthy that was... mmkay?) leftover from a Kohl's luncheon. None of us had eaten supper -- we had been planning to go to Cracker Barrel when we left Kohl's.

By this point it is around 7:15. We decide to go sit out in the car. I felt bad for taking over their breakroom and feeding my son their food. But they were so nice and very understanding about the entire ordeal. I'll definitely be sending Thank You's.

I changed Bo's diaper in the back of the car and tried to put him in his carseat because it was his usual bedtime. He wasn't interested in going to sleep so my mom and I took turns holding him in the car while we waited for Mandy to arrive. (On a positive note, I did get to chat with Jill for a few minutes while we waited. She happened to see our car in the lot and came over to chat.)

Mandy and her little sister, Hunter, arrived to save us at around 8:30. I don't think I've ever been more glad to see anyone in my life. Mandy handed off the keys and we headed home. I can't remember the last time I drove at night -- more or less the last time I was outside of my house after 8 pm! I managed just fine though.

Bo fell asleep on the way home but woke up as I dropped Mom off. Luckily, he went right back down once I brought him inside and settled him. By this point, I was 2 hours behind on the massive amount of work I needed to do so I proceeded to work until about 12:30 last night. (Hence the very hasty Wordless Wednesday post!) The adrenaline of the evening kept me going. I still don't think I've fully recovered. I also managed to not eat for approximately 23 hours. That never happens to me...

My beautiful Burberry purse and wallet are gone along with everything they contained. I loved that purse. Mike gave it to me for my birthday when I turned 23. I just bought the wallet about a year ago -- trading in my knock-off for the real thing. I planned to carry that purse until it fell to pieces. I didn't even carry a purse until I was 22 and I never imagined being so attached to one. It was the only purse I own...

The moral of the story... don't leave your purse, even for a second. And if you're a thief, maybe you should check to see if the store has cameras first. I do plan to press charges.