So, let's get the basics out of the way. Yes, it was a moronic move. But I live in the NYC area so space is at a premium. I keep my photo gear in my Lowepro ... like, all of it. This includes my 4 lenses, two bodies, 420 EX flash, my cleaning gear, my filters, my memory cards, my card reader, my new Sekonic light meter (less than 2 weeks old), film (for the Elan), a lead x-ray bag for bringing film through the airport, my camcorder, and 5 8mm tapes for the camcorder. When I take a camera with me somewhere ... it ALL goes with me.
So we're heading out on Saturday for a day of shopping, maybe catch the new Bond film, and whathaveyou. We end up seeing the Bond film and I put my camera bag down in the seat next to me (because I do not leave that stuff in the car). My 9 month old son is being absurdly adorable and he's loving the film and loving playing with mom and dad during the film. About 10 minutes to go I notice my little-guy stinks ... diaper-change time. So when the movie's over, my mind is on getting him to the bathroom so I can change him.
After the movie, we head on over to Target to pick up some necessities. From there, we head over to the mall. After some light shopping, we stop at the food court and because my son is so cute when he's eating real food, my wife suggests I get out the video camera and get some video of him. Without even thinking about it, my heart just sinks.
It takes me all of 10 seconds to remember where I left the bag, tell the family to get up, and clear off the table. We race to the car, drive about a mile over to the movie theater, and start the search.
Customer Service doesn't have it. The main desk doesn't have it. No one has given it to security. None of the theater staff have seen it. We weren't in Target too long, and we'd only begun the mall shopping, so actually, the showing of Bond that's going on in theater #5 right now (that was ours) is the show directly after the one we saw ... so maybe it's still in that seat or someone put it under a seat.
Security escorts us in before the movie's over and we start looking around the area the bag last was ... nothing. Security lines up about 5 guards plus my wife and myself at a makeshift checkpoint to watch the customers as they exit the movie. No bag. They turn the lights on in the theater and have most of the security staff looking over the ENTIRE theater. Nada, Zip, Zilch.
So I succumb and ask for the police so I can file a report. I start making a list of everything I have in the bag. The theater manager comes out and lets me know that my request to see the security footage is denied because the tapes are in the same room as the safe (money). The lead security guard is nice. He takes down a detailed description of my Lowepro Mini Trekker AW and heads off to the manager's office to see if he can get the manager agree to let him view the security footage. We wait for the police.
And we wait.
And maybe we wait a little longer.
And then !!!! ... we wait some more.
So, we were sitting there ... I'm not sure if I mentioned this but we were just waiting ... and I see the lead security guard, another security guard, and a theater employee walking towards us. The lead security guard yells out, "Is this your bag?". I look at the bag the theater employee is carrying and I want to hug someone, anyone. I throw the bag on the floor, sift through it briefly, and true to my emotions, I hug the security guard. The employee is telling me how it was handed to him by someone who found it and he held onto it for fear that if he handed it in to customer service it might get conveniently lost. Smart boy. Almost ....
I decide that some reward is in order, so I head off to the nearest ATM to pull out a few hundred bucks to give to the kid. A few minutes have passed by the time I get back and I ask the wife where that kid went and she's not sure. So I ask the lead security guard where the kid went and he says he doesn't know and looks uneasy. I'm so excited I don't fully get it yet. The kid finally returns, comes right over to us for whatever reason and stands there. I give him a big thank you and hand him a decent sum of cash ($200) .... he does not look me in the eye and seems uneasy but takes my money, no refusal at all. Right next to us is the customer service desk where two young kids are working. The kid who returned my bag goes over to talk with them for a second and the girl behind the desk asks, "Why would you put it in your locker?"
Of course, this immediately grabs my attention. In my joy-filled relief, I hadn't actually thought about where my bag was stashed or how it was that this kid might have missed all the walkie-talkie security transmissions asking everyone if they've seen the bag. Security went so far as to search other theaters and they had literally all of the security staff looking for this thing ... surely he had to have heard something about it. These thoughts race through my head in a fraction of a second and I blurt out, "Excuse me .... wait right here."
So I look around for the manager or the lead security guard and I see the security guard talking to a uniformed police officer about 20 feet away. I can tell by body language that they're sending him away because my bag was recovered. I run over to the officer and ask him to follow me for a second. I walk back to the customer service desk and tell the kid who tried to steal my bag that if he does not hand me back every penny I gave him, I'm going to press charges of theft against him (I know I can't do that, but he looks like he's 18 years old and is probably crapping his pants right now, it doesn't hurt that I'm 6 ft tall, 200lbs and I look like at any second I'm going to snap his spine in two). He hands back over the money after giving me a, "I can't believe I have to give it back!?" look. I tell him that if he hadn't lied to me when he handed it back to me, I would have given him some cash for his honesty (which I would have). It sounds really corny when I say it, and he gives me this "Yea right" look, but oh well.
Turns out he had come back to the customer service desk to say goodbye to people since while I was out at the ATM he was in the manager's office getting fired. He walks away to get his things and leave I assume, and I talk to the security guard and the manager. Turns out they saw him on film receive the bag from a movie goer who found it and handed it in. He walked straight back to the employee lounge area and put it in his locker. The security guard went and found him, interrogated him for a minute, and searched his locker. I handed the $200 to the lead security guard and thanked him for his help. Not much considering I'd spent almost $4K putting that bag together, but I'm sure it meant something to him. I also got his name and sent out a letter yesterday to his security company commending his effort and professionalism.
All in all it took about 2 hours from the time I got back to the theater, till I got my bag. My bag had been out of my sight for a little over 4 hours total. What a maroon I was.
Now I'm shopping for equipment insurance ... anyone got any help for me in that arena? I'm in Westchester County, NY.
Relieved,
Bill
