Kindle stolen from gym. I feel too angry to return

It figures that there are so many people blaming the victim. Has anyone ever had the unfortunate circumstance of witnessing firsthand the way a rape victim is treated?

It's awful.

As for "it's ridiculous to take it with you because it's at your complex" what the hell? It's no more ridiculous than taking it to ANY gym. Some people like to keep busy while they work out. I take my Nook, phone, and iPod to the BEDROOM to ride my stationary bike. And switch between the three of them.

Helps pass the time no worse just because the gym is at the complex. Duh.

My 17 year old son left his laptop on a bench by mistake. Infuriated me when he said it was "stolen" because frankly, what do you expect when you leave expensive electronics laying around in public? I would expect it to be gone the minute I turn my back. He had to buy his own new laptop. Lesson learned. This is why I lock my home, car, and gym belongings up.

It is always upsetting when you lose something, but you lost it rather than have it stolen.

We you leave something that is valuable unattended, blaming the person who picked it up is unfair when it was your own negligence that got the Kindle stolen. Unfortunately modern society in general is in decline, good samaritans are a dying breed and a lot of people would rather keep things they find for themselves. We must rely on our own vigilance and common sense to keep the things we treasure safe.

Like people have said you need to either lock it up or leave it at home, or don't let it leave your sight.

so because you leave your wallet on the dresser in the morning, it's okay for your kids to go in and take all your cash?

Give me a freaking break! Most ridiculous post-you win!

Just because someone leaves something sitting, doesn't give someone a free ticket to take something that doesn't belong to them. Get real. You leave your car parked somewhere all the time. Is that a ticket for some thief to take it?

Why should we as people not take responsibility for our own actions and mistakes?

Why should we be allowed to give temptation to these people through negligence and not have to pay the consequences?

Why should we take the moral high ground and hide behind their actions while ignoring our own?

If you leave your wallet on the dresser in a PRIVATE residence where you can control who has access to it is a very different thing than leaving it in a public area where anybody has access to it. That is a parenting issue.

I had my bicycle stolen, reported it, grand larceny. Security review the video of the guy scoping out all the bicycles, strolling back to mine, bending down (concealing he was cutting the lock) and riding away. Unfortunately not a good face shot.

Thousands of miles on this bike - THOUSANDS. Deeply depressed for a week. Then I realized the jerk was still stealing from me. Time to get over it so I bought a new bike. Although I’m still upset, things happen, move on. I hope you can too.

To the people saying she should get over it because it's just a "thing", I think y'all are missing the point. I got the impression she was upset because she felt violated, not because she didn't have her Kindle anymore. When she goes into the gym now she looks around and wonders if one of the people working out is the one that violated her. I can totally see how that would elicit anxiety/stress/anger/insert negative emotion here.

OP, nothing will help this but time. It *will* get easier. Maybe try NOT going to the gym for just a little while because you might actually be reinforcing that response since it's still so fresh. And recognize that while there are always going to be lowlife scum out there who take advantage, there are also LOTS of wonderful, caring people too. It balances out

You'll learn that possessions come and go. Never develop an emotional attachment to your possessions. A THING should never have that much control over you. When you lose a THING, you work a little extra hard and replace the THING if you feel the old one was giving you valuable service. If it wasn't, you don't replace it.

I've had lots of THINGS stolen. Bicycles, records, stereos, schoolbooks, tapes (including a particularly dramatic 3-window smash, apparently the thief didn't like my selection of cassettes in my car so he snapped every single one of them in half then broke two more windows in addition to the one he broke to get in, then trashed the stereo and cut the seats up).

All of them were THINGS. I wasn't hurt. It cost me money. It sucked. But THEY WERE THINGS.

Break my THINGS, and I will buy new THINGS. It'll suck, and cost money, but there's not a single THING that I'd own that I'd shed a single tear over. Yeah, I might get pissed off for a while, but I'll just go out and buy an even nicer THING if the old THING was useful.

^ THIS. (BTW...are you sure the "thief" who busted up your car and cassettes wasn't a woman scorned? sounds like it! )

In college, I drove around a ridiculous white dodge neon, which had seen MUCH better days. The front hood was bent all in from a guy in a Hummer who backed into me, the side mirror was held on with duck tape, etc. I went out to my car one day, and someone had broken in and stolen the CD player and my whole binder full of ALL of my CDs (I'm a music FREAK so those CDs were my "kindle"). Oh, I didn't mention that the Hummer incident, side mirror, and theft all happened while on Spring Break.

Honestly, when I saw that someone had stolen my CDs, I laughed. I was like "SERIOUSLY?!" I was pissed, yeah...but I moved on. At least they didn't steal my car.

At least they didn't steal your ability to workout - unless you let them. Don't let this become another option on "excuses to avoid the gym".

I once had an mp3 player of mine stolen by an employee at Planet Fitness. I know it was an employee because I verified over the phone that they had found it and were keepign it behind the counter. Went in, and it was nowhere to be seen.

How did you get over it? I mean, in your shoes I would be judging each and ever person I see and wondering if they were the one that took it. I mean, that's what I'm doing.

Wow. You just need to get over your *kitten*. It's just a thing. A meaningless stupid thing. Your life could be so much worse. have you ever been held at gunpoint and robbed? Beaten and had money taken from you? I have. It could be so much worse. Just forget it.

While things could certainly be worse, I'm well within my rights to be upset. It was a gift, and so it has more than just monetary value. It was sentimental. It meant a lot to me. It's not just a thing. It's not just the kindle that was taken either. It was my comfort in the gym, in my home, and my faith in humanity. Those are not just things.

I'm sorry that your property went missing, but let's be real here . . . I don't understand why you would have such a feeling of great violation when you left it behind. No one accessed your personal space and removed items from your person, home, or vehicle. Someone picked up a forgotten item that was left behind. Did they think someone would realize it was missing and come back for it, certainly, but they did not access your personal space to get it. Yes, you can be upset by it's loss, and you have every right to feel violated if you do . . . but I don't get it. While rummaging through my purse or bag I've dropped money or belongings, sometimes they are returned, sometimes they are not in which case that's the end of that. When I was in high school I practically lived out of my car, had hundreds of dollars worth of property in that vehicle. I stayed the night at my bff's and came out to go to school the next morning to find that someone had taken off the antena and used it to jimmy my locks and then removed all property from my car. It sucked, I cried, then I straightened the antenna back out, screwed it back into place, and went to school.
Your Kindle Fire has nothing to do with your healthy lifestyle.

It is always upsetting when you lose something, but you lost it rather than have it stolen.

We you leave something that is valuable unattended, blaming the person who picked it up is unfair when it was your own negligence that got the Kindle stolen. Unfortunately modern society in general is in decline, good samaritans are a dying breed and a lot of people would rather keep things they find for themselves. We must rely on our own vigilance and common sense to keep the things we treasure safe.

Like people have said you need to either lock it up or leave it at home, or don't let it leave your sight.

so because you leave your wallet on the dresser in the morning, it's okay for your kids to go in and take all your cash?

Give me a freaking break! Most ridiculous post-you win!

Just because someone leaves something sitting, doesn't give someone a free ticket to take something that doesn't belong to them. Get real. You leave your car parked somewhere all the time. Is that a ticket for some thief to take it?

Why should we as people not take responsibility for our own actions and mistakes?

Why should we be allowed to give temptation to these people through negligence and not have to pay the consequences?

Why should we take the moral high ground and hide behind their actions while ignoring our own?

If you leave your wallet on the dresser in a PRIVATE residence where you can control who has access to it is a very different thing than leaving it in a public area where anybody has access to it. That is a parenting issue.

Seriously? Holier than thou much? She has owned up to the fact that she is partially at fault, so she has accepted some responsibility & she isn't hiding behind anything.

The only one on the moral high ground is you, wanting to excuse the thief for his actions & lay the blame completely at the feet of katatak1, which is beyond ignorant.

Like her goal was to tempt someone into stealing her Kindle, so she would get on here simply to vent her frustrations. She made a mistake. So do you think that everyone who makes a mistake should get punished for their mistakes while trying to wash away the blame of the individual who knowingly broke the law?

Have you ever made a mistake like that & gotten away with it? Left a phone sitting somewhere then came back & found it?

^ THIS. (BTW...are you sure the "thief" who busted up your car and cassettes wasn't a woman scorned? sounds like it! )

In college, I drove around a ridiculous white dodge neon, which had seen MUCH better days. The front hood was bent all in from a guy in a Hummer who backed into me, the side mirror was held on with duck tape, etc. I went out to my car one day, and someone had broken in and stolen the CD player and my whole binder full of ALL of my CDs (I'm a music FREAK so those CDs were my "kindle"). Oh, I didn't mention that the Hummer incident, side mirror, and theft all happened while on Spring Break.

Honestly, when I saw that someone had stolen my CDs, I laughed. I was like "SERIOUSLY?!" I was pissed, yeah...but I moved on. At least they didn't steal my car.

At least they didn't steal your ability to workout - unless you let them. Don't let this become another option on "excuses to avoid the gym".

I agree! Do not let this be an excuse no to work out. You are giving this person way too much credit if you let him ruin your goals too, it is just an object it can be replaced. Keep pushing!

You can report the kindle as stole to amazon and they won't be able to purchase any books and it will become useless to them. I'm not sure if it can be hacked into after that or not. But, it's worth trying.

To the people saying she should get over it because it's just a "thing", I think y'all are missing the point. I got the impression she was upset because she felt violated, not because she didn't have her Kindle anymore. When she goes into the gym now she looks around and wonders if one of the people working out is the one that violated her. I can totally see how that would elicit anxiety/stress/anger/insert negative emotion here.

Well, not to say that what happened to her didn't stink... but someone broke into my home and took all my electronics and I found it pretty easy to let go. My biggest concern was for my safety, but still managed. She left something expensive somewhere and it got taken. It sucks, but it should also be expected. People are rude and opportunistic for the most part. She shouldn't have left it, she knows it.

From watching the OP on this thread, it's pretty obvious that she'd rather hold onto her stress and pain. She's reacting to the people that are inflaming her situation and ignoring the people that have some really good advice. She says she wants advice on how to move on, and yet is ignoring the good stuff and clinging to the bad. It speaks volumes.

I sympathize with the loss of her kindle. I'd be bummed if mine got taken too. But in the end, it is just a thing. Not worth the stress, the lost work outs, the anger or the time spent complaining about it. It is after all just a thing and not worth losing sleep over. She's hurting herself more than the thief ever could have.