Stolen: A Clean Swipe

Editor's Note: Welcome to Stolen: Tales of Video Game Theft! This series focuses on video game theft on an intimate level - these are first-hand accounts or at the very least, those of an eyewitness. Sharing my woes to those who may have experienced a similar ordeal or maybe someone can use it as a cautionary tale. 

The first time my gaming goods were stolen was circa late 2006.

On an early Saturday morning, as a younger and more vibrant me galloped loudly down the stairs of my parents' home, mother informed me she had hired a carpet cleaning crew to do what their name implied. And they were ready en route.

Only God knows when the last time the carpets had been thoroughly cleaned. The tapestry needed some good ablution rejuvenation.

Cool. Thought nothing more of it. But per usual, my mother had a bad habit of not announcing non personal visitors. We rarely had guests over, extended family here and there but for the most part it was primarily the immediate last-name sharing crew.

.

I don’t recall having to pick up any of my belongings off the floor but distinctly remember placing my electric blue Nintendo DS (with Mario Kart DS inside), X-Men Legends, and Tetris DS behind the television set in the next room.

Once I improvised a safe spot for my belongings, I was off to church as I often did almost every weekend back in those days.

Returning home that night, the house did smell a bit fresher. And I really mean just a bit. The indoor aroma was on the damp soapy side. Looking down at the carpet, there was not a considerable visual difference. I guess it was clean enough. Oh Well. So I set off  back to my makeshift cache and-

The goods were not there. 

I wasn't alarmed because I was under the assumption my mother may have felt the need to place them in a different location, I didn’t really bother too much. Being lucky enough to have a multitude of console games simultaneously always provided a nice distraction.

But after more than week of leisurely searching and not finding anything at all, I finally inquired with her. She seemed befuddled so I became anxious.  I began second guessing myself wondering if I truly placed it where I thought I did. Scrambling for every possibility it finally hit me. Like a sharp lightning strike, it hit me. They were stolen. The carpet cleaners stole my games.

Sharing this revelation of malfeasance with mother, we called the cleaning "company" to confront them via landline.

When we pressed the person about sneaky handed theft it was vehemently denied it and the person hung up. Called again, no one picked up. They never did after that.

Come to find out they were some rinky-dink company of undocumented freelancers who weren’t as official as I first thought. Basically they approached her as she was leaving Home Depot and asked if they could provide a small sample of their job.

So that was it. My things were stolen. Stolen right out of my own home. Swindled out of my hard-earned possessions, I was beyond livid. It was a phantom punch to the gut.

The aftermath of the whole ordeal forced me to place every pocketable item I had and contain it to my room. I shouldn't have to feel that way in place I considered my home but I couldn't afford another lose like that.

Here’s list what the two-bit robber stole:

Nintendo DS Electric Blue – I held off on getting a Nintendo DS because at the time I didn’t find a game worth owning but I soon did. What attracted me to this DS was how cool the blue was. I wasn’t crazy about the design though. I ended up replacing this with a black Nintendo DS lite. More on that later.

·         Mario Kart DS – This game was the reason I bought the DS. Before Mario Kart 8, this was my favorite entry in the series.

·         X-Men Legends -  I didn’t have much time with this game before it was unjustly snatched from possession.

·         Tetris DS – Another game that I enjoyed a lot. I already had an obsession with Tetris but the melding of Tetris + Nintendo IP was too irresistible. Later the game became hard to find.

            Metroid Prime Hunters - A DS favorite; I played with friends over wifi and wireless connection and it was tons of fun with an original control scheme. 

    In hindsight, I could have been more responsible about where I stashed my things but on the other hand I never expected someone to swipe me clean from my own home. While kids these days won't have to deal with this since things are going more digital, it's something to think about if you have loose pieces of video games you cherish. Keep an eye on all your things.