And the Moral of the Story is.......

Monday-For those of you who hadn't heard, both my bike and Will's were stolen at the MRT station by our house. My dad and I made this disappointing discovery upon our return from the Taipei Zoo. It didn't help that my dad asked prior to our departure to the zoo "shouldn't we lock these up?" "No dad"-, I stupidly replied. "I haven't locked them up in 3 months- they're fine."
OOOOHHHHHHH that's what the saying "hindsight is 20/20" means.
We circled the area and I am confronted with a number of feelings. First, I'm pissed. Obviously. I was also kind of sad. I mean, I was naively under the impression that we were in a safer, more honest community. And Wyatt - well he refused to take the thefts lying down- he insisted upon becoming the Incredible Hulk and taking matters into his own hands.  Naturally the fact that they took his helmet and bike pads didn't help and only further incited the green that was rapidly emerging in my son.
I had no idea what to do.  I mean I didn't lock them up..so do I really go to the police? ehhhh.
Wyatt continued to talk about the stolen bikes all week. His 4 year old mind simply could not comprehend why someone took something that wasn't theirs. MY 32 year old mind also couldn't wrap around the concept that someone had taken something that wasn't theirs..I mean COME ON.
Thursday-We got new bikes AND bike locks. *Foreshadowing moment* One lock was a combination lock and the other had a key.....and a spare.
Friday-As Wyatt continued to threaten to take action against the thieves and engage in physical violence, I made the decision to go to the police. If anything, I thought it would be the best example for Wyatt to show him that he could not engage in combat (whether superhero or not) each time he was wronged..that there were other options, better choices available......it was also adventure Friday, and without a whole lot of other plans, why not? So off to the police station we went.
*Note* You may only speak in Mandarin Mr. Policeman, but uh, I know you're laughing at me.
The one English speaking cop was nice- he said it was his job to help us....but I can see you too!!! He was laughing as well....Now granted, he wanted to know why we waited so long to make the report-and what was I supposed to say? As a moral lesson for my son, I felt it imperative to come to the police station so that he doesn't become a He-Man vigilante? I think not. In the end I told them I was there for informative purposes- you know in case there was a rash of bike thefts or something. He said I could wait a couple of hours while investigative work and questioning was completed (looking over MRT tapes etc.) At first I said yes..then I said no. OOOOOOk. I didn't want to be wasteful of manpower and resources that could be directed toward capturing hardcore criminals. That, coupled with every time one of the cops heard the story and started snickering while looking in my direction?-Out the door I went.
Monday-Shall we move on to the bike locks I was talking about? Yeah. Let's talk about those bike locks.  I'm not what some would call....organized, thus the bike lock with a key seemed like a craptastic idea. In attempting to read the combination lock directions in Mandarin, I stuck with the standard 1234 combo that comes with the lock. Pretty simple right? Yeah. So I went to the gym, locked up the bike, finished up 45 minutes later in order to allow myself enough time to travel a few blocks over and pick up Wyatt from class. The problem was....the lock. It would not unlock. Apparently I inadvertently changed my combination. The irony that I could not unlock my own bike was not lost on me people.
I did a brisk speed walk over to Wyatt's school, picked him up, walked back over to the gym and promptly began to freak. I called Will, freaked, which he of course could do absolutely nothing about and then proceeded to freak to the front desk gym employees. They then asked if I wanted the lock cut off. UH YEAH!! And , as a side note...WHO does that? They came out with what looked like hedge cutters and promptly saved the day...well the afternoon, or at least calmed my freak out.
So I moved on to the lock with a key. And yeah.....I lost key #1 within the same week.
No judgements.