In addition, they are incredibly creative people. Consequently, the family house is in a constant state of creation and destruction. It’s a micro-universe and kind of a spiffy metaphor. This also means that complete strangers are in our house for the better part of the week.

They’re all really cool people. I try my best to speak with them in my broken gringo Spanish. My father drives some folks home when it’s too hot to get around on a bike. We all get along really well. A guy named Juan, in particular; always tells us what he’s working on and how long it’s going to take.

The current house project is the master bathroom. As it stands, it has one working sink… and… that’s pretty much it. It looks roughly like somebody lobbed a grenade through the window-then, unsatisfied with the results, stuffed a herd of raging wildebeests inside to shake things up. My father keeps his wedding ring in that mess when he’s doing work around the house. It keeps it in a very specific, and unfortunately conspicuous, place.

Well you can guess what happened. Last week, his wedding ring was stolen. We know it was not misplaced, since my family tore the house apart looking for it. It was stolen. Not only that, it was stolen by somebody who knows him.

I can get into a whole “Material possessions are not as important as the symbols they represent!” deal, but honestly…that’s fucking shady. I guess I say that from the perspective of someone who’s never stolen anything. “Oh, bullshit.” You say. No, it’s true. I’ve never stolen a single thing. There was no way for me to justify it to myself.

I never sat there and thought “Well I need this stereo more than that guy needs it.” Or “Steve’ll never notice if five bucks are gone from his dresser.” Ad infinitum. So I can’t say I understand. Of course I could be over-thinking things (Yours truly? Never!) It’s just a huge slap in the face. I mean, I’ve recently had an iPod and a bicycle stolen from me, so it’s not just vicarious anger. It’s fucked up.

Well afterward, my father spoke to the contractor about it. I honestly feel bad for him. The situation makes him look really bad. Despite that, we all understand that it’s in no way his fault. It’s the crew that did it….and unfortunately the entire crew has to suffer for it. The contractor fired them all-and has to find entirely new people now. This act of selfishness caused everyone else so much trouble…it’s just hard for me to believe someone would have to gall to do that.

But hey, stuff like that happens I guess. Twenty-one years is a long time to pretend I’m still naïve about the world. I just invest a lot of confidence in people in general. If nothing else, it’s a great way to get frustrated often.