Stolen Wallet

I went out to dinner last night with some girlfriends. I arrived early since the restaurant doesn't take reservations. I sat and waited for 20 minutes until we were seated. I got up, grabbed my coat, my keys and looked for my wallet. Gone.

Not under the bench or table. Not in my pocket.

I went to my car. No luck.

Not on the path between my car and the restaurant.

One of my girlfriends went with me to look in my car again. Nothing. While she was digging through my car, I asked a guy at a nearby restaurant if anyone had turned it in. He said no but that a lady who wanders by a lot picked it up and muttered to herself that she found a wallet. Apparently she panhandles on that street all the time. I asked for a description. He gave it to me and we started looking around for her. We couuldn't find her, but when I saw a hippy-ish couple on the street who looked like they knew the area, I asked if they knew the woman who fit the description.

"Oh, you mean Joanne?"

Yes. Have you seen her? I think she has my wallet.

No luck. So in every store, restaurant and bar. Leaving my name, cell phone number and description of the wallet and the woman.

"Oh, you mean Joanne? She walks around here all the time asking for change". One of the restaurants cautioned me to cancel my credit cards immediately. Several others told us to try her bar-of-choice, down the block.

We went in and explained the woman.

"Oh you mean Joanne? She's in here all the time asking for change but I haven't seen her yet tonight. You should try later."

Sigh.

As we were going in our third bar, I got a call from a bookstore up the street. Someone just turned in my wallet. There was a toothless 50-something woman and her boyfriend going through the clothes bin outside the store. She said she wasn't Joanne but somehow got my wallet (don't know the exact story, as you can imagine, it was a bit sketchy). I thanked the shop owner for calling me and went into my wallet to give everyone a tip for returning it. All the cash was gone, even the coins. Luckily, my credit card, ID and ATM card were still there as were all other contents that I could tell. Kind of an odd scene. We all knew that the truth was not being told, but you couldn't quite do anything about it. I was thankful for what I had left. I'm sure they were thankful for the money they found. They said if they couldn't find me, they would have returned my wallet to my house, which is nice but didn't quite make me feel better.

After we parted, I immediately called my credit card company to report what happened and check the activity on my card. All clean. So now I just monitor it to make sure nothing's up. I am also thankful that they didn't take my work ID with bus pass, which would have cost me a couple hundred dollars to replace.

And so that was my night last night. I'm thankful for the outcome but feel violated and cheated. Upside, I had the most delicious cocktail after the incident to calm my mind. I think it was the highlight of my entire meal: It was called a Pegu Club Cocktail. Bombay sapphire gin, cointreau, fresh lime, sugar and bitters. Served up. Delicious.