The Studio

This one is dedicated to my dear friend William, who had an unlucky run-in with chance today.... or was it predestination....?

I'm not one to believe in fate, but there are times in life when a series of seemingly unrelated events conspires to deliver one of life's blows; it makes you think twice. Take today for example...

The Saturday started with Tiff and I attending a champagne brunch hosted by Ameriprise. After brunch, I realized that I had the whole afternoon free before dinner with the crew, and debated my options, trying to determine what was the most optimal use of my time. The options were either to go to the city to run a few errands I desperately needed to run before going to Houston, or calling up Walter and seeing if he was free to go shopping today, even though Walter and I had already agreed to go shopping together on Sunday. Walter was able to move around some things on his calendar and agreed to go shopping today. Significant event #1.

On the way home, Tiffany suggested that she could drive me and herself to the Great Mall, and Walter could meet us there. The arrangement was such that Tiff would leave from the mall to go to the airport to pick up Justin, and Walter could later drop me off at my home. Significant event #2.

After Tiff had left to go pick up Justin, Walter and I tried on more clothes and wandered a bit. Realizing it was getting late, we started to head home. In the car, it became clear that I would be late in meeting up with everyone in PA, if Walter first dropped me off at home so I could change and take my car to PA. Walter offered to drop me off directly in PA, and I gratefully accepted. Significant event #3.

Once at Evan's in PA, Tiff and I realized that there was a good chance I would be cold in SF because I was still in open-toed shoes, and had on nothing more than a light sweater, which was all that was needed for a day of South Bay shopping. After some begging, Evan loaned me the smallest jacket he owned (might have also been the ugliest jacket he owned, but that's a separate story. ;-) ). Needless to say, the jacket was very distinct looking. Significant event #4.

The reason we had met in PA is because Evan is the default driver for these types of events. I'm not sure why exactly, but it's probably some combination of him having a car that seats 5 and also having the least amount of loathing for driving. However, Evan having recently decided to not be a student anymore, was no longer covered by his father's car insurance plan which included Evan so long as he was a student. Having been thwarted at procuring car insurance from a friend (who will remain unnamed), Evan was between coverage, that is to say, he had no coverage. Because of this, Will offered to drive to the city instead. Significant event #5.

Once we arrived to the city and located the restaurant, we drove around for a bit to find parking. We cruised a number of blocks, some closer to the restaurant than others, but each time we spotted a spot, it was either too late, or nearly impossible to get to. Finally, just when we were about to give in and pay the valet, Will came upon a spot that was literally across the street from the restaurant. Significant event #6.

As we were all piling out of the car, I noticed that there was no noticeable breeze, and decided to leave the jacket in the car, particularly since we were, like I said, literally across the street from the restaurant. Evan encouraged me to take the jacket since it might be cold later, but I insisted that if we weren't going to go wandering the streets after dinner, then I would be fine without the jacket. And so the jacket was left behind in the car. Significant event #7.

Here's how the rest of the story unravels... Justin, Tiff, Evan, Kathryn, Matt, Will, and I enjoy a marvelous meal together. Great food, great company, what more could anyone ask for. After dinner, Tiff needs cash, so we walk to the ATM. As we walked back towards the car, the wind picked up, a bitingly cold wind. At that point, I kind of wished I had taken the jacket, but was consoled by the fact that the car was so near-by. In truth, the chilly weather was a little invigorating, and hiding from the wind behind Evan and Will was amusing.

As we walk up the last quarter of the block before the car, about 8 feet in front of the car, I saw a black lump of fabric. When I looked at the fabric from afar, it resembled Evan's jacket, that is to say it looked like a piece of a black berber carpet. I jokingly asked why someone had thrown Evan's jacket away, but as soon as I said the words, I realized that the lump of black fabric on the ground was indeed Evan's jacket. I stood there gaping at the jacket, fully understanding the ramifications of what I was looking at, but not wanting to realize the verity of the situation by actually looking at the car. Will's car window had been broken. Will's 1992 Honda Accord, parked on the corner of California and Van Ness, an incredibly busy intersection. Will's 1992 Honda Accord, that was parked in front of a new Lexus, was broken into. Nothing was taken from the car, save Evan's ugly jacket, which ironically was purchased from Banana Republic (I didn't know BR sold stuff that looked like berber carpet!!), and then promptly discarded not 8 feet from the car. Nothing about the situation made sense.

There was speculation that perhaps the thief chose Will's car because it had no car alarm and would attract the least attention if broken into. Other speculation guessed that Will's window was targeted, the broken one in particular, because it was already easy target since this window was permanently cracked an inch since it couldn't completely raise. Yet other speculation guessed that perhaps the reason why nothing else was taken was because the thief had very little time to rummage through the car.

Not being able to make any more sense of the situation, there were a few things we could all be thankful for.....
Will's laptop, which was in the trunk was untouched.
Of all the windows in Will's car, the one that was broken was the gimpiest one and had been in need of repair for a while.
Evan's jacket, which was taken from the car, was recovered. hehehehehe. I'm not sure if we should be glad for that, but Evan seems to like the jacket, so I guess it's not wholly bad.

When you look at all the events that lined up to even make Will's car a target, the events don't seem so random anymore. Even so, I have a hard time believing that this could have been predestined, that we are merely pawns acting out someone else's intentions. Perhaps tonights events are better attributed to chaos.