Working late has its benefits. They are small, but they are there. I woke up Friday morning around 8:30, took my time to shower, had a nice breakfast, felt awake for the first time in a whole week. I was going to be a tad late, but having worked till 23:30 the night before made that quite alright. Everything was fine when I walked out the door.

While I normally turn left, and my car was parked to the right, somehow it did draw my attention. I looked at it. Then looked at it again. Eyeballed it some more until I started to realize it was indeed my car I was seeing. Or at least, most of my car. For some reason it was missing its whole front bumper and license plate. That's not a sight you come across every day.

I went up for closer inspection. The whole front bumper was indeed gone. Not just lying on the ground after someone had smashed the front of my car, but just ... gone. And they'd done a neat job too. Somebody had apparently taken the liberty to steal the front bumper off my car. I know cars are pretty desirable targets, especially for smaller thefts like radios and airbags. But I never heard about someone's front bumper being stolen. Guess there's always a first.

Apart from the fact that it's a really annoying thought that someone is just able to steal a whole front bumper without people noticing, theft means a lot of hassle too. Calling the cops, having to be towed away, waiting until lunch break is over to get a replacement car. My fine morning was effectively spoiled. Part of my afternoon too.

Three things about this incident I will not forget:

1. 1. The idea that there are really people out there who'd steal a whole front bumper off your car.
2. 2. The police asking me if my bumper was still on my car when I parked it there.
3. 3. The parking ticket I got for parking my replacement car in my street later that day. Fuck that.

It was quite a morning indeed.