We don’t have the money
On Friday night, we took Kid Dreadful to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert. I packed a picnic dinner, we had a great location in the lawn seating area, the weather was beautiful, and the concert was terrific. As we walked to the parking lot, we were all in excellent moods.
Then I saw a look of panic sweep Kid’s face while we were loading our chairs and blanket into the back of the car. He ripped open the door to the backseat and let out a strange noise. “It’s gone.”
Backtrack: We had plans to drop Kid off to visit relatives after the concert. Since he doesn’t go anywhere without his electric guitar, he had it with him. I had to tell him to put the guitar down out of view, but I only felt a twinge of concern about leaving a (pretty cheap) electric guitar in the car at a family-friendly concert in the parking lot on the campus of a suburban university. How wrong I was.
Kid was shocked and furious. He started looking around the car, as if someone might have dropped it. We went to talk to a Sheriff, but he said no one would be available to take a report until the parking lot was empty. Since the replacement value on the guitar was less than the deductible on our car insurance (and there didn’t seem to be any damage to the car), we opted not to make a report.
As we drove away, an angry voice came from the back seat. “I’ve got something that’ll add to the value. They also got my PSP and about twelve games.” Yes, he had tucked them into his guitar case.
If I had known he had hundreds of dollars of easily portable, desirable equipment that was going to be left unattended in a dark parking lot for several hours, would I have been a bad guy and refused to let him take all of that along? I’d like to think so, but that falls into the hindsight category.
And I don’t know if this makes things worse or better, but the alarm on my car wasn’t going off, the other contents weren’t rifled through, and there was no damage to the back door, which was left open. I suspect that my husband accidentally left the car unlocked — as we were leaving the car for the concert, our hands were full, there were cars pulling in around us, there was a lot of confusion, and my vehicle (unlike his) will not lock itself if unattended. Of course he feels ridiculously guilty about this. I feel guilty for not nagging him to lock the car, which I usually do. Hell, I feel guilty for owning a car that doesn’t lock itself.
The simple truth is that these things happen. If there weren’t rotten thieving fuckwads who go through parking lots peering in the windows and trying doors, it wouldn’t be a problem. However, there are.
As we drove, we explained to Kid that we can’t afford to replace his guitar anytime soon. The PSP and games? Those are a lost cause. He had just used a good chunk of savings to buy himself a new (used) PSP and it really, really sucks that it was taken. However, he has plenty of videogames and we’re not going to shed tears that one of his gaming options is gone. The guitar is a different story. That’s a tool for constructive creative expression and very dear to him.
The guitar, book, and pocket amp that were stolen probably cost $150 total. That’s it. $150. Do we have that much money? Sure we do. Then why did we tell him we couldn’t afford to replace it?
We spent a lot of money on the house this year. Our emergency fund is not where it needs to be, I hold my breath when I view the credit card bill each month (though we still pay it off in full), and we just got a property tax bill that was almost double what had been expected. Yes, we could pull that $150 out of savings, but it isn’t what we should do. It isn’t right for us or the right message to give to Kid.
While we drove, I was consumed with a feeling of guilt for not having a paying job. For not contributing directly to the household budget so that — at least — we could offer Kid opportunities to earn half the money for a new guitar and we could toss in the rest. I felt selfish for pursuing my hobbies instead of finding some way to earn a little money without it costing more than it would bring in.
Kid’s grandparents are going to buy him a guitar in a couple weeks. Maybe someone will give him a PSP eventually. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way and I don’t suppose that Kid will be leaving his valuables unlocked and unattended in the future. That’s not an uncommon realization to reach as a teenager and it’ll serve him well.
As for me, that night I stayed up to update my resume and apply for a temporary TV Production Assistant gig. I’ve been skimming for part-time jobs I can do from home. It would be nice to have a bit more of a financial buffer, you know?
