To the criminals with a conscience,
Clearly you could have stopped this crime from evolving when my property from the U-Haul truck first showed up into your hands. You could have prevented my life from being destroyed within those first moments as it was carried into your house, or maybe into your apartment, and perhaps even into your storage unit; into the many dark corners of this city we share. You could have prevented this loss as my life sat there in all those boxes, sat in your house, under your roof; you could have prevented this. But instead you choose to participate in my destruction. My entire life was packed in that truck. Everything I worked for my adult life, all of it, was in that truck. Those boxes contained my past and they contained my future. That truck wasn’t just full of a random collection of bullshit, it was all I have accomplished as a man. It wasn’t just full of my stupid crap, it was an unfulfilled promise to my family, my friends and my neighbors. A silent promise I made to them, a promise to help them should they ever fall on hard times.
You saw all the food, and probably helped yourself to some. Do you think that food was all for me? I could never eat all of it, nor would I want to. I never pictured myself hording it all and getting fat as my neighbors begged and starved at my doorstep. That food was for them, for my tribe, my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my community. Of course it wasn’t much in the big picture scheme of things; but it was all I could afford; and even a little could help some people make it through a season of hard times.
You saw all the ammunition and you know how it was packed;for long-term storage. I was hopefully never going to shoot it, ever, or even need it. But I had it just in case, for my family, my community, my friends and my neighbors. If the day ever came, god forbid, that they had to defend themselves, I had tools set aside for them.
Some of those clothes you unboxed, were not even my size. Some of the shoes and boots didn’t fit me. Did you notice the boxes of toothbrushes and razor blades; you undoubtedly saw all the other supplies and equipment. The batteries, the propane cans, there was a lot of stuff wasn’t there? That was all to share with my tribe, my family, my friends, my neighbors and my community.
Did you see all the books packed in those boxes? Did you notice that most of them were new and not even read? Many were copies of ones I previously read and had given away; it was my small modest library, documenting this unusual time we are living in. Same with the DVD collection, almost exclusively educational, together with the books they weremy way of awakening the spirit of awareness in others. They were tools to help spread the blossoming of human consciousness and evolution. They were gifts to the future to help us understand and guide us through the turbulent times we are living in.
That truck contained my entire life history in the form of my artwork, my photographs, my memories, and my family heirlooms. Will I ever see my Uncles World War II medals again; or the photographs and letters of my departed grandparents? What about the sacred pipe I made with my own hands, that I labored over, that I poured myself into which was then blessed at an indigenous peoples ritual. Will I ever have a chance to use it in ceremony? Never. These things are gone. Probably thrown like trash on the side of the road. Can you imagine someone picking through everything you ever owned and trying to decide what he or she can sell and what he or she will burn? Can you imagine someone picking through your life, your most personal possessions, and desecrating the things you hold as sacred? Can you imagine what that feels like? I would rather it was all lost at sea, burned in a fire, or blown away in a tornado then to think of someone actually opening all my boxes and going through them; those thoughts are sickening. Now just image that happening to you.
That truck didn’t just contain my past; it held my future as well. It was my life savings. Everything I have saved and earned and worked so many years for. That truck and those boxes were full of irreplaceable gifts to the children I don’t even have yet. What do I have now to leave anyone; what record is there of all that I’ve accomplished in my life? Nothing. It’s all been stolen. My future has been taken from me.
This loss has been so total and so complete I suffer every day. I suffer with the humiliation of letting my tribe down. My disappointment in myself for loosing all the provisions I had been saving for them; that disappointment is profound. My tribe suffers, my friends and family suffer, my neighbors and community suffer; and they don’t even know it; I never told them it was all for them. I was their silent guardian; and it was my way of honoring them. And now it’s all been taken, not just from me; but from them as well. I have nothing tangible to offer my family and friends, nothing to offer my neighbors or my community.
You could have stopped this from happening. You chose to participate. For this I can never forgive you.
However, I do thank those of you who have helped the authorities return some of my property to me. It shows you have a conscience, and that means you have promise to become a compassionate human being. Lost are those with no conscience, no morality, and no compassion. Your morality may be late blooming; but perhaps it will flower nonetheless. Perhaps this experience will make us each truly better people. Only time will tell.
The state will punish those of you involved for your crimes against me. I suspect the few of you with a conscience; that your mind will punish you as well. I am building a civil lawsuit to punish all the parties involved in this crime. The civil lawsuit will follow after the criminal prosecution. I will seek to recoup some of my financial loss and heal the emotional damage that I’ve incurred by using the court system to financially crush everyone who participated in this crime. The few of you that have helped the authorities recover some of my property, that have shown the promise of morality, the glimmer of a regretful soul, I will consider not including you in the civil suit.
We can both see the noose tightening around the necks of the suspects involved in this crime. I know you can see it. I’m sure you are filled with unease and anxiety. I’m sure you must be wondering when the police will come for you. I can’t speak for the authorities or make any promises for them whatsoever. However, I would imagine cooperating with them at this point might help you save your own skin, or at least loosen that noose around your neck. But I can’t speak for the cops, I can only speak for myself; and this I will assure you, that if you help me recover my life, my property and my dignity, I will not pursue you in a civil lawsuit.
Right now, the choice is yours, and you still have some options. But soon, when Johnny Law catches up with you, the choice will be mine on how to handle the crimes you’ve committed against me. If you are involved in this crime, call me, so we can talk and figure out a plan to return my life to me.
If you choose not to return my property, I will not rest until you are brought to justice, be that in the courts or in the streets. Believe me, you do not want me as an enemy.
Sincerely,
The guy with nothing left to lose
