My wife Carla wrote a great letter to the editor in the Indian Head / Wolseley News recently. A number of people have said they appreciated her willingness to speak the truth about vandals and their impact on us. I thought it appropriate to post it on the blog.----------------------------------------------------------------
Letter To the EditorTo the heartless moron(s) who vandalized our vehicles in the early morning hours of August 1st in Wolseley:
Here is some information you didn't know or care to know when you tried to siphon gas the easy way, by cutting gas lines on our 1996 Ford Windstar and our 1989 Dodge Colt--you cut the brake line on the Colt, by the way--which were parked outside our garage that night: you caused $123 worth of damage plus days of inconvenience and frustration to an innocent family. We are not nameless or faceless: we are a one-income family with four children, aged four to ten years old. My husband uses our van for his job and is on the road at least half the time. You didn't think about that when you disabled it, did you?
Maybe you thought we were an easy mark because our vehicles were in our driveway instead of the garage, that we deserved the damage for being careless. The truth is, our eldest son was launching his bike-refurbishing business and was letting paint dry on several projects inside the garage. And regardless: our driveway is OUR property. Maybe you assumed we'd have a fat package policy or a healthy savings account to absorb the hit, although if you judged the age and wear of the vehicles, you should've known better. You like weren't thinking at all, considering the cigarette butts found at the scene. Did no one ever tell you that smoking and gas-siphoning are a bad combination?
We moved to this small town for many reasons, not the least of which was the relative lack of crime. It’s ironic that we lived in a major metropolitan centre--population 500,000--in the southern U.S. for nearly eight years with no vandalism; we lived in Regina--population 170,000--for six years with no vandalism, and now here we are in Wolseley--population 800--for less than a year, and we suffer a hit.
It’s hard enough to pay for necessary maintenance of our vehicles, and we certainly have no money earmarked for senseless destruction. So, I want to know: from where in my budget should I skim in order to pay for the repairs? Maybe a week’s groceries? A month’s electric? A couple months of dance lessons for my girls? Hockey season for either of my sons? How about my back-to-school budget?
And it’s more than just money and time you’ve taken from us. You’ve also robbed us of a certain amount of trust. Was this just a crime of convenience or desperation? Will someone come right into our yard next, to look for loot? Into our house?
What good is this letter going to do, other than allowing me to vent my spleen? I hope that you’ll read it and be moved to change. Or perhaps one of your friends or relatives will recognize the circumstances and confront you, and this will lead to a change in your character. Perhaps you’ll even repay us.
Carla Taylor
