No Wallet, No Gala on Saturday

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009

No Wallet, No Gala on Saturday

On Saturday March 7th, Mr. Timeless Things and I got up early as we had many things to do before we went to the St. Leo the Great Gala at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center. Off we went, happy and loving the fact that we were together and had such a wonderful night to look forward to. Our first destination was to M&M Thrift Store as I had asked the owner of the store to hold several items for me and that I would pick them up Saturday morning. We headed to our bank drive thru ATM, to get some cash out as most thrift stores only accept cash. Next, we headed down to Blanco Rd. and got to the store about 9:30 a.m. and the store was closed. The sign said she would open at ten so we decided that we go and get some breakfast somewhere nearby. We drove on to find a restaurant but hey, it's San Antonio and it's full of hole in the wall mexican food restaurants. Both my husband and I aren't big fans of mexican food. As we drove around my husband mentioned that since we couldn't find anything we could go back and wait for the thrift store lady to show up. Back we go to Blanco Rd. We noticed another sign on the door saying that she wouldn't be there till one o'clock instead. Drats! By now it was right at ten so we both decided that we would go down Zarzamora and go eat at one of our favorited places.

So here we are at the Malt House on Zarzamora. We get off and suddenly hear a crazy person across the street shouting and banging on the trash cans by the bus stop. We both turned around to see what the commotion was about and I asked my husband, "What the heck?" I saw a young man with a sweat shirt and baggy pants shouting, hooping and hollering and hitting the trash cans with his belt and banging on them with his hands as well. We walked quickly to the door, found a table and sat down. Not even three minutes later that man walked inside the restaurant shouting and screaming, hitting the tables and ran inside the mens restroom. My husband of course wanted to get him out of there as we both noticed that there were only women working at the restaurant. I did not want him to get out of his seat. There weren't that many patrons inside the restaurant. Counting us, there was probably about ten people. I was so worried that the young man night have a gun or some other kind of weapon on him. The week before, patrons had been robbed at a popular restaurant and luckily they caught the jerks that robbed them. Meanwhile, the idiot in the mensroom was still screaming and hollering and (I forgot to mention that we all called 911) and finally the police got there. He drove up and drove away!

He thought he had the wrong address when he didn't see anyone outside but one of the waitresses was holding the door open. She waved him down and he drove back to the door, jumped out and she told him what was happening. He put his hand on his gun and stormed into the mensroom shouting "What the HELL is wrong with you!!!" and we heard clear as a bell, "I'm having an asthma attack". You should have heard the groans of disbelief from us and the other customers. He dragged him out by the collar and flung him against the police car. For some reason, he kept looking at me through the door and I was not understanding why at the time. He got patted down and he was sweating like a stuffed pig and kept up the pretense of being short of breath. He was out there for fifteen minutes before the officer let him go. The nut ran back across the street and started his hooping and hollering again but the cop stayed in the parking lot and watching him.

Well, by this time our breakfast had come and we ate. When we were done, my husband reached to get his wallet out of his back pocket and realized that he didn't have it. I got chills and I knew in my heart that he had dropped it in the parking lot. I didn't voice it but I knew. I told my husband to run out to the car and go look inside to see if it had fallen out. I paid for our breakfast and joined him in the search. Nothing. I told him to go inside and check the trash cans...."Babe, what if that guy took it because you dropped it here in the parking lot". He didn't want to believe it but he went inside while I was still searching in the car. I got angry and I slammed the front door and looked across the street at the crazy man and he saw me glaring at him and he took of walking very fast down the street away from the restaurant. I think he created a diversion for the actual thief who probably drove up, saw Marshall's wallet and perhaps the crazy guy said something to him and he offered him the cash that was inside the wallet. Who knows, but I believe that theory....LOL! Mr. Timeless Things came out of the restaurant and I told him my theory and told him to run across the street and look inside the trash cans there. He did and no luck. He walked over to where the police was still parked and asked him if that crazy guy had a wallet on him but the officer told him that he didn't. He told Marshall to call his credit cards and cancel which is what I was already doing back at the car.

My sweetie was so upset and heartbroken because he carried his daddy's old drivers license in that wallet. When we finally get a hold of the Discovery card stolen number, it's already almost 11:oo a.m. They tell us that at 10:53 a.m. someone charged $221.46 on our card at an HEB grocery store! They told us the store number and I called and spoke to the manager who told us to get a police report. We drive to a police station, get the report and the officer there tells us that everyone there has heard of the crazy man at the restaurant! We get the case number anddrive to the HEB which is in "Chololand"..... a neighborhood that we don't frequent because of gangs and it's just a creepy neighborhood. It's called Deco District and it's true but I wouldn't walk there if I were you. The manager there took down our information and told us that they would review the DVD surveillance video pending the release of the police report. Of course, they will be the ones to prosecute that person for forgery and anything charged over $25 dollars is a felony. After all of that turmoil, my sweetie just didn't want to do anything except forget what had just happened. I felt so helpless and we came home and sat and I hugged him for a long time. I hope they find that person. I don't know.....there's something quite sad about it....maybe that person was hungry or their family was hungry. I do hope it was groceries they bought and not liquor. Anyway, they will be found. The good guys always win. If only we could get my late father in-laws drivers license back. I know it hurts my husband deeply. Pray for him.