The rudest robbery I've ever encountered

Yesterday, my brother was taking a nap at the University of Manitoba’s science lounge around noon. This is a common practice for most post-secondary students, because we do occasionally burn the candle at both ends. Chris took off his glasses and placed them in his shoe. This is also normal. It’s not fun to sleep with glasses on, and he didn’t want to accidentally break them while he slept.

He woke up about an hour and a half later to find that his glasses were gone. No one messed with his backpack or books, no one tried to steal his wallet, and his shoes were still exactly where he’d left them. This thief wanted something specific, and he got it.

How incredibly rude.

Chris is like me. Without his glasses, he is virtually blind. When he realized they were missing, he called for someone nearby to help him look for them. Nine people materialized almost immediately, and all were eager to assist with this very unusual problem. No one could locate the glasses anywhere, and finally my brother had to accept the fact that they were stolen.

Are you kidding me? Who would do that?

Thankfully, my dad was home, and he brought my brother’s spare pair of glasses to the university for him. There is no way he could have driven home without them. Now, Chris has to shell out his own hard-earned money to replace the expensive pair that someone took. What initially began as a rude inconvenience is now costing my brother money, and that makes me really angry.

When I was younger, the kids at school would steal my glasses just to watch me fumble around without them. This wasn’t fun, and I absolutely hate the feeling of partial blindness. I can’t even imagine what it was like for Chris as he sat at school waiting for my dad to arrive. He said that the glasses were well-hidden in his shoe, so I’m betting that someone watched him put them in there and waited for him to fall asleep before stealing them.

Ugh.

Some readers may be confused about why Chris didn’t hide his glasses better before going to sleep, so I’ll explain unofficial university protocol a bit. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, people leave their personal effects all over the place, and no one touches them. I have watched people leave both laptop and cell phone unattended in the library for hours. When they return, their items are still there. People just don’t mess with each other’s stuff, because most of us understand that things like computers, text books, and glasses are expensive.

I’ll agree that it isn’t smart to leave personal items lying around, and I’ve never done it myself, but it happens all the time. Chris placed his glasses in a hidden location, and I never would have thought that a person would actually have been desperate enough to reach inside his shoe to take them.

Moving on...

When my friends stole my glasses on the playground, they would always give them back. No one is going to return my brother’s pair, and he’ll never find out who did it. He’s lucky there were people around who were willing to help him look, and I tip my hat to those anonymous individuals.

I guess it just goes to show that nowhere is safe, and people can’t even take a well-deserved nap without worrying about the safety of their possessions.

Rude. Just rude.