If you’ve followed along for a while, you know that I’m nuts about downhill skiing. That said, I pretty much can’t stand the minutia involved in getting ready to go to the mountain.
I live in a condo building and store my skis in a unit in my building’s basement. To load the skis into the car involves sticking my condo-unit key in my pocket, going to the elevator and using a special key to tell the elevator to go to the basement. Once down there, we unlock the storage area door and then there’s a combination lock on the storage unit itself.
Then, we haul the gear upstairs – skis, helmet, poles, boots — and use another key to unlock the car and yet another to unlock the ski rack.
We haven’t driven two feet and we’ve already had to employ six keys. It saddens me that humanity must be so guarded to protect ourselves from each other.
But once we get to the mountain, we’re free. I always felt that there was a camaraderie on slopes — a bunch of like-minded people, willing to brave frigid winds and a mountain that could kill us, just to strap on some heavy piece of equipment and hurl ourselves down a hill. It’s play at its finest. Totally pointless and totally filled with utter, sheer joy.
One day this past season was particularly cold. I was losing feeling in my fingers and my friends and I agreed that we’d grab lunch after this next run. Like I’ve done for more than 15 years, I raced over to the ski rack, popped off my skis, hung my poles around the top and clodded clumsily in my boots into the toasty restaurant.
Probably two hours later, we re-emerged, full and warm and ready to have at it again.
My skis weren’t there.
After an hour of digging in the snow and checking the racks over and over and over again, I realized with sad finality: Someone had taken my skis.
But, maybe it was a mistake, I hoped. Maybe they’d bring them back. Later that night, security informed me that there had been six thefts that day. I learned that equipment thefts are often not done by “just kids,” but have ties to organized crime. Criminals steal the gear, sell it on eBay or Craigslist, and use it to finance drug-running and other illegal activities.
My skis were stolen.
I hate that phrase. I hate what it means and I hate how much it still bums me out even as we head into summer. My skis were 10 years old and cheap and my ski ability had improved so much since I bought them that I should’ve had new ones by now anyway.
My skis had little fiscal value. I bet they wouldn’t command more than $20 on the open market.
And yet, the thieves had stolen something invaluable: my ski-culture trust.
It’s interesting to me that in the Bible, Jesus refers to the devil as “a thief.” If I were to pick the worst adjective for evil, the worst thing you could do, I don’t think I would have chosen that one. I think I’d pick murderer or rapist or despot or tyrant. But Jesus says, “thief.”
Even 2,000 years ago, people knew that thievery was a very evil thing. A murderer is a thief: He steals life. A rapist is a thief: He steals peace of mind. Despots steal autonomy. Petty thieves steal our ability to look at a strange man as a brother and love others as we love our selves.
Before this upcoming winter, I’m going to have to buy new skis. I’m even a little excited for some new, shiny carvers.
But what makes me sad is that I’m also going to buy yet another lock and key.
I am sorry the clipped your gear AJ I had a fiftyth birthday party a few years ago with all my good friends that would come to our apartment the place looked nice and the shindig lasted all day.
When it was over rosie was missing her pocket book and I had lost two gold chains valued at over 2,800 dollars. The Police took the report in the wee hours and I got a paper from my jewler to prove they were purchased on the up and up.
It has been two years now and I had frequented the local hock shop looking at some items in te window and cashing in jewlery sometimes , After the safe released un paid items they go for sale I found my gold cross on their display case and it burned me up when he said oh thats a common piece I know it was rare from and expensive jewish jewlery store but he was a store owner and I was a victum. Jesus also taught us to forgive at all ALL costs. thank you for sharing your storie and I am again sorry about your luck.
I am sorry the clipped your gear AJ I had a fiftyth birthday party a few years ago with all my good friends that would come to our apartment the place looked nice and the shindig lasted all day.
When it was over rosie was missing her pocket book and I had lost two gold chains valued at over 2,800 dollars. The Police took the report in the wee hours and I got a paper from my jewler to prove they were purchased on the up and up.
It has been two years now and I had frequented the local hock shop looking at some items in te window and cashing in jewlery sometimes , After the safe released un paid items they go for sale I found my gold cross on their display case and it burned me up when he said oh thats a common piece I know it was rare from and expensive jewish jewlery store but he was a store owner and I was a victum. Jesus also taught us to forgive at all ALL costs. thank you for sharing your storie and I am again sorry about your luck.
I’m so sorry this happened to you.
When I’ve been in places in the US, or other countries, where theft/crime is non-existent, it’s something I thoroughly appreciate.
Remember when an Apple employee accidentally left a prototype iPhone in a bar, which someone found & immediately sold to a tech news site?
I tweeted: RT @craigmod This iPhone debacle is amusing to us in Tokyo since that would never happen here. | He’s not kidding! “Anywhere else perhaps, a shiny cellphone (left behind) … the owner resigned to the vicissitudes of big city life. But here in Tokyo …” http://nyti.ms/93K5v7
I really love that in Japan, “nobody steals your stuff” http://articles.latimes.com/print/2007/mar/28/world/fg-bike28,
When I was in 4th grade, people broke into our house, made a huge mess, took a bunch of stuff, nothing irreplaceable or too valuable. A bunch of amateurs – no big deal. But it was still quite traumatic for my younger brother & me – & in that sense, the experience kind of stole an element of our childhood.
Just like you had to buy another lock and key, we had to install window locks, strong dead-bolts in the doors, a bright night-light on a utility pole & a security system. We would always double check when leaving to make sure the windows were closed & the doors were locked.
But maybe this minor break-in saved us from a much more serious one down the road if we hadn’t taken all these precautions.
& I hope you get some really awesome new skis.
@Fred Pop: I’m sorry about your gold chains. That stinks. Also, that is a very New Jersey story.
@HMF: Aww, I can imagine how scary that would be to anyone, even as a kid! What makes Japan different? That’s amazing to me.
That’s a shame that your skiis got stolen, it seemed like they had a lot of sentimental value to you. Stealing other people’s possessions is a heartless and weak-minded activity. You can’t steal happiness – that’s for sure.
“But once we get to the mountain, we’re free.” I LOVE that about skiing. So much work, but what a great payoff.
I’ve been skiing exactly one time in my life, and it beat me senseless. So scary but so much fun. It was a man-made slope in Missouri, of all places. Go figure! Anyhoo, I get that feeling o’ freedom from kayaking. It’s glorious.
When I was in my early 20s, my house was robbed. I had conveniently placed all of my jewelry in one spot for them the night before. (Insert dramatic sigh.) It was crazy unnerving and sad. Alas, I still don’t lock my stuff up as I should. I choose to still be a trusting fool. So far, it’s worked. I hope the funk leaves you soon and you enjoy your new fancy toys!