HerKind.com

Last week I went to try to find my stolen bike, which I hoped would be on display in one of the two warehouses that Toronto Police secured so people could be reunited with their modes of transportation and fun.

I came home empty-handed and heavy hearted. It was like losing it all over again. Big Drag!

Walking among the thousands of bikes, painstakingly alphabetized, I found myself in a kind of awe of this Igor Kenk guy. I mean, you really have to wonder what alternate reality a guy like him lives in. He steals bikes, either gives them back to their rightful owners if they can prove the bike is theirs, or sells them as is, takes them apart for parts, or simply hoards them.

Why?

I don't mean why as in I need a pat answer like, he's involved in drugs or other types of crime. I mean, in the scheme of things, bike stealing is pretty minor.

So, why?

I listened to an audio excerpt of an interview with him saying something like "people might miss their bikes, but noone's thinking about the bike's point of view."  Whaa?

(By the way, this guy also stole the odd stroller - now, that is just beyond the pale, don't you think?)

In any case, they found 700 more bikes today, so back I go to the warehouse in hopes of locating my Canadian Tire special, stolen in it's second season (I wish I could say year, but it's scary enough riding Toronto streets in spring and summer, I can't say I would ever attempt fall, winter) - stolen from right behind my house, where I tied it up every night without incident, until one day last April, on a unseasonably hot night at around 1 am. I actually heard the guy take it - alerted first by my cat who stood up, jumped off my bed and ran to the window.

It's not like I would ever run after the guy. I live alone at the end of a long dark driveway on the periphery of Parkdale! Geesh!

Dear Mr. Bicylce Thief - I work hard for my money and can't afford to replace my bike, my summer has been bereft of the simple joy of riding on the waterfront, nor would I ever think to go to a shady storefront to look for or even try to re-purchase it from you. Did you ever think my bike's point of view is that it liked it's owner just fine?