The "Bad Luck Trifecta" is in play

To start, I had a very nice weekend with family and friends (some of whom, I hadn't seen in a decade or more). This post is not about that.

This post begins when my mother wisely reminded me as I left her house today: "I think you should put as much of your stuff as possible in the trunk. Theives can be a problem in downtown Toronto." For those of you that are not familiar, this plot device is known as foreshadowing.

I headed down to a camera shop for a little window shopping. I get out of the car and head straight in knowing I'll only be about 20 minutes (also foreshadowing).

After a surprisingly successful time in the store I headed out the door and back to the car. As I approach, I notice someone looking through a car. Wait! Not A car, MY car. There is a man rummaging through the extensive collection of things I had in the car (I put as much as I could in the trunk, I really did). Foolhardy guy that I am (emphasis on the fool), I came up behind him and grabbed one of my bags that was in his hand and kindly asked him not to steal from me. ;) After he realized that I wasn't going to do anything to him he seemed to give me back everything that he had. I can't say for sure but I haven't recognized that anything is missing. He had been so methodical that he had gone into my backpack, found my shaving kit, gone in there and specifically chosen items he wanted and placed them in one of my bags. He had even gone into the trunk. It was as though he thought he was getting a loot bag at a birthday party. Or maybe he was a hollywood star down-on-his-luck who was used to the swag they all get at awards shows. Either way, his patience was my saving grace (as well as the fact that he didn't have a knife or gun or something).

Somehow, while this was all going on, I also managed to notice the second part of the "Bad Luck Trifecta", I had a parking ticket. That ol' "I'll only be 20 minutes" bit came back to bite me.

In an optimistic nutshell: I had a great weekend. I won the "Bad Luck Lottery"... Twice! Getting the parking ticket may have limited the amount of time the theif had to collect my stuff (meaning that I got there while he was still at it). Nothing is gone. Maybe the cost of the ticket saved me the cost of everything else.

In a pessimistic nutshell: I had a great weekend. I lost the "Good Luck Lottery"... Twice! I got a bloody parking ticket and had my car and things rummaged through by someone looking for money for their next fix.

I'm inclined to go for the optimistic nuts. They tend to be much tastier. That being said, the trifecta is in play so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for the third misfortune. My hope is that nobody collects on the trifecta this time.