My 10-year-old son's Nintendo DS and game case was stolen at the YMCA this morning.

It is old, and the lid is held on by duct tape, so it will be easy to spot. I am considering going up and casually wandering through the kids day care to see if I spot it. The case (his name and number are on the case,with 15 games it the real loss in all of this. That and my son is crushed about the whole thing.

I am headed up there to put up a reward sign. I know the folks who run the Y very well. I don' t like the idea of snooping about for it, but I am pretty upset that it was stolen.

I plan to be careful and maybe take my son along. If I spot it in another's kid's possession, I'll get the Y to handle it. Anything else to be aware of in this quest?

There are theives among us.....

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iaJim
There are theives among us.....

Who should be put on chain gangs....or beaten senseless...

Yeah...young kids beaten senseless or put on chain gangs - that's certainly my image of the apex of the penal system.

Freescotland, as long as you are just looking around, and don't touch or move anything so as to get any better views, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

The reward sign sounds like a very good way to handle it.

I fear this may be a painful yet valuable lesson for your son.

outcast

Kiss it goodbye and move on.

Quote
outcast
Yeah...young kids beaten senseless or put on chain gangs - that's certainly my image of the apex of the penal system.

That was just in case it was taken by an adult. And it was written out of a little over-the-top anger.

Freescotland, as long as you are just looking around, and don't touch or move anything so as to get any better views, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

The reward sign sounds like a very good way to handle it.

I fear this may be a painful yet valuable lesson for your son.

I agree it is a lesson we all have to learn. Will be good long term, sad short term.

I'd go ahead with the reward sign, and taking a look around as long as you let the Y handle it if you do spot it. My daughter takes hers to the Boy and Girls club all the time, I worry about theft since sometimes it is left in her bag unattended, normally she only takes one or two games with her so the loss would not be as bad.

jesse

What do you mean by 'stolen?'
Some other person accosted your kid and demanded the DS?
Or was it 'left' somewhere unsecured, and 'picked up' by persons unknown?

This seems to be a great opportunity for a learning experience for littlescotland. If you value an object, hold on to it.

The great thing about my parents' generation is, they never would have asked for 'advice' on how to deal with this.

If you're absolutely certain that every precaution was taken to secure the object (ie: it was locked in a locker, secured in a book bag, hidden out of view from others), then I would approach whatever authority figure was responsible there and ask that they query the other children who were present what happened. If the thing turns up, then great, otherwise, let it go, and do not allow the son to take things of value to the Y.

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I am not Ryan Seacrest, and I do not approve this message.

Don't be absurd. If you see a Nintendo sitting on a table at the Y and you take it, that's stealing.

By your reasoning, if I were to sneak up behind you and punch you in the kidneys, it wouldn't be assault, just a learning experience: Get somebody to watch your back.

Um, how do we know that's what happened?
Where does it say that the object was on a table?

If I drop a nickel on the ground, and someone picks it up, that person is not a thief.
If I leave a 'Nintendo' on the 'table,' I would hope that somebody would turn it in to lost-and-found, but I would take full responsibility for losing it.

The issue of whether someone 'stole' it or not is left to their conscience, but as far as I'm concerned, it was lost.

Likewise, if some kid 'found' this Nintendo and brought it home and his mother saw it, it is his mother's responsibilty to teach him the proper life lesson in that situation.

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I am not Ryan Seacrest, and I do not approve this message.

if you take a DS that doesn't belong to you, and it's at the Y, you stole it. EOS.
it's not 'lost.' it wasn't 'left behind.' someone took what didn't belong to them.

don't play judge & jury, seacrest. the lesson will be learned no matter what.

It was in his case with his name/phone number on it and in a place the Y provides for personal items. He left it there to get his mom her water bottle and when he came back it was gone.

Should he have left it? No. But it was stolen.

The Y won't let us put up a reward sign. I'm headed up there now before the day care lets out, just in case it is still there.

My son built a web page on iweb and posted it just to feel like he was doing something.

The time for learning lessons is not today. Today I comfort my son. That's what I want him to remember. Not that he got yelled at.

I am apparently old, but not old school.

Huh?

Where does it say that the item was actually STOLEN?
The only FACT we have is that it is MISSING.
You are all making the leap that since the kid claimed he took it to the Y, and didn't bring it home, that someone MUST have 'stolen' it.

There are lots of things that could have happened to an old duct-taped electronics item.

- the 64 year-old janitor saw it, and threw it in the trash. Is he a 'thief'? Did he 'steal' it before he threw it out?
- it could have fallen behind some large peice of furniture or some other large fixed object.
- the kid, sseing an opportunity to get a shiny, new Nintendo, could have claimed it was stolen (this is not a slam on the OP's kid, just speculation)

My point is not to argue the definition of 'stealing,' I am merely pointing out that how the thing came to be missing should play a part in how the situation is dealt with.

I can tell you that, if some other kid had snatched one of my toys from me, it would have been dealt with a WHOLE LOT DIFFERENTLY than had I simply left it somewhere and it was gone.

And, try this execise: go to a rough (or any) part of your town and leave your car with the keys in it. Then tell your insurance company that story. You'll get a good idea of an 'objective' definition of 'theft.'

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I am not Ryan Seacrest, and I do not approve this message.

Gee, maybe it was beamed aboard the starship Enterprise.

I mean, as long as we're speculating...

Free- ya handled this really well. Good luck.

My son (then 12) had his school locker 'broken in to" (turned out after some questioning that the lock was sticking so he left it unlocked rather than get it fixed by the truculent janitorial staff). A CD player was stolen.

A week later he saw a 'kid' on the bus listening to the same CD player. So he asked for it back. And pointed out his initials on the back when the 'kid' claimed ownership. The thief relinquished my son's property. No blows were exchanged, altho the thief did lose some 'coolness' points from onlookers who were laughing at him for being a 'lus3r'. And my son learned a valuable lesson that posessions unsecured are often posessions shared.

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Seacrest
Huh?

Where does it say that the item was actually STOLEN?
The only FACT we have is that it is MISSING.
You are all making the leap that since the kid claimed he took it to the Y, and didn't bring it home, that someone MUST have 'stolen' it.

There are lots of things that could have happened to an old duct-taped electronics item.

- the 64 year-old janitor saw it, and threw it in the trash. Is he a 'thief'? Did he 'steal' it before he threw it out?
- it could have fallen behind some large peice of furniture or some other large fixed object.
- the kid, sseing an opportunity to get a shiny, new Nintendo, could have claimed it was stolen (this is not a slam on the OP's kid, just speculation)

My point is not to argue the definition of 'stealing,' I am merely pointing out that how the thing came to be missing should play a part in how the situation is dealt with.

I can tell you that, if some other kid had snatched one of my toys from me, it would have been dealt with a WHOLE LOT DIFFERENTLY than had I simply left it somewhere and it was gone.

And, try this execise: go to a rough (or any) part of your town and leave your car with the keys in it. Then tell your insurance company that story. You'll get a good idea of an 'objective' definition of 'theft.'

Wow.

It says "that the item was actually STOLEN" in the title of the post.

I am very happy to say that my insurance company doesn't teach morality in my household. While your point may not be to "argue the definition of 'stealing'", you sure picked a bad way to make your point.

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Seacrest
Where does it say that the item was actually STOLEN?
The only FACT we have is that it is MISSING.
You are all making the leap that since the kid claimed he took it to the Y, and didn't bring it home, that someone MUST have 'stolen' it
....
And, try this execise: go to a rough (or any) part of your town and leave your car with the keys in it. Then tell your insurance company that story. You'll get a good idea of an 'objective' definition of 'theft.'

OP says it was stolen a couple of times. Now, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, that his post explaining how it was stolen from his cubby went up while you were drafting your lengthy post.

What I don't get, Seacrest, is why you assume the OP was a moron, and should've had said "lost" instead of "stolen." Or, are you instead suggesting his kid is a liar? It's bizarre that you say stuff like "the only FACT we have," and then make outrageous, mean-spirited claims based on, what, your gut feeling? Your general misanthropy? Bitter memories of your childhood? Talk about making a leap!

What kind of person makes a nasty post, based on the assumption that he can read between the lines and divine what really happened? What you did is nothing more than farting in a crowded elevator for fun.

As for the car theft analogy: Boh-oh-oh-oh-gus. First, the Y is not a public place. It's not even like a restaurant or a hotel serving the public. You have to be a member to be in the building. Second, leaving keys in your car is defeating a basic piece of security built into the car itself. There's nothing in the original post that comes close to that.

Maybe instead of looking for FACTs in posts that bother you, you should look inward, try to see why these things trigger your petulant outbursts.

when I was 13, I broke my arm, and while it was still in a cast, another kid stole one of my books [my name was written on it] while we were at school. I saw the kid, with my book, on the public bus on the way home from school. I demanded that he return my book to me. the kid, who was slightly bigger than me at the time, as he was about a year older, refused. I tried, unsuccessfully at first, to take the book back myself by tugging on it. when it became more than clear that the kid wasn't going to relinquish the book voluntarily, I waited patiently until the bus approached my stop [his stop was two stops later], and asked him politely one last time to please return my book before I got off the bus, or that I would have to take it from him myself before I got off the bus. the kid again refused, and even laughed at me. I smashed him on the side of his head with my cast [which under normal circumstances would have just been a slap to the face, as my other hand was holding my other books], took my book back, got off the bus, and walked home.

the kid's parents called mine later that evening, and acted quite indignant about the situation. I told my dad what happened, and gave him the names of several other kids that saw the whole thing on the bus, and had my dad suggest to the kid's parents that they contact the other kids to find out the whole story. they called back at bit later and acknowledged to my dad that they realized their kid had taken my book first. my dad strongly suggested that their kid apologize to me at school the next day, and that if I felt the apology was genuine, I would likely apologize to the kid for slapping him with my casted hand, if not, I would likely report him to the school office for taking the book in the first place.

circa 1964, but same moral still applies. I hope your kid's DS shows up soon.

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Sometimes it is what it is...
and then there's times when it's really better.



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Great ending.

Late this afternoon one of my former football players (high school JV) was in the gameroom at the Y and he saw my son't DS and case. It had our football helmet logo stuck inside the case as well as my son's name (my son was the waterboy for the football team). Another high school teen was playing it, but he knew it from football practice (it is pretty distinctive with the duct tape and bulky extra battery). He took it from the kid, who did not resist (though he said it belonged to his little brother), and called my house (the phone number was on the DS and the case along with my son's name). Only one game missing and my player is going to ask the kid to find it or replace it.

I was proud of my son. He was more charitable than his old man, even after finally admitting that it was indeed stolen. He said he'd just start saving again until he could get another one.

Thanks to all for giving me a place to vent on this one. Nice to report a happy ending.

Some other person accosted your kid and demanded the DS?

That's not theft (stealing), that's robbery. Big difference.

"Every precaution taken" is/was irrelevant. Obviously freescotland had more information than he posted. No big deal.

And leave a car with the keys in the ignition in any part of any town and it's gone, the police call it-- stolen. Not lost, not missing. That's a literal definition of theft.

The Penal Code of some states may say "if you leave the keys in the ignition of a motor vehicle, then any person not authorized by you is free to take the vehicle, without fear of prosecution", but I think that would be rare.

An insurance company may refuse to pay based on some clause regarding due care and diligence, but they can't rewrite the definition of theft. They may try to show an intent to commit fraud.

Lacking that, call it careless, stupid, negligent, forgetful, it's still theft.

freescotland, glad to hear it all ended well. You didn't provide much detail about the "charitable" aspect, nor were you required to, obviously.

Hopefully, the plan to start saving for a new one wasn't an "Oh, well, I'll just get another one" type of response. As I know neither you or your son, I won't presume to guess his attitude, just that some kids tend to take the responsibility of that sort of thing a little too lightly. I know more than a couple of adults who do.

At any rate, glad to here it worked out ok, and kudos to the guy who retrieved the DS. That was trés cool.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

[
Hopefully, the plan to start saving for a new one wasn't an "Oh, well, I'll just get another one" type of response. As I know neither you or your son, I won't presume to guess his attitude, just that some kids tend to take the responsibility of that sort of thing a little too lightly. I know more than a couple of adults who do.

At any rate, glad to here it worked out ok, and kudos to the guy who retrieved the DS. That was trés cool.[/quote]

His attitude was the right kind. It would have taken him a considerable amount of time to replace his lost DS and games. He's good about saving patiently for things he wants. He works for his allowance and does some light yard work for neighbors and family. He even keeps one elderly neighbor's yard neat of leaves and limbs for nothing. His idea.

Been quite a day.

Win-win, all around.

It's Miller time.

Or Martinelli's.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I hate a thief!

One thing, the DS is old? They've only been out for a year and half. My sons got
theirs the day they came out and have played them nearly everyday. I sold them on
eBay 2 weeks ago in near Mint condition for $30 less than the new DS Lite which
they picked at midnight the day they came out.

You're rigt the games are what hits the hardest.

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Grateful11




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2006 08:35PM by Grateful11.