The Car Thief

Are you one of those people that things just seem to happen to?  Things that would never happen to someone else?  That’s me.

I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods with my daughter in search of a gift.  As we were leaving the store, I handed my daughter a bag and the car keys as I returned the cart.  It was a cold Pittsburgh afternoon with some flurries in the sky, and I hustled to the car in time to pop the trunk. 

Kelsey remarked, “Mom, it looks like we lost our Hanks sticker,” (a magnet we had on the back of the car). 

“It must have fallen off,” I replied. 

Kelsey and I hurriedly threw our bag in the trunk and hopped into the front seats, ready to blast the heat. 

As I inserted the key into the ignition and began to turn it, it stuck.  This was about the same time that Kelsey said, “Mom, I don’t think this is our car.” 

Have you ever had a bunch of things happen in one simultaneous instant?  That’s what happened.  The key didn’t turn, Kelsey made her comment, and I noticed there was an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.  Oh, and, there was a guy standing right in front of my window staring at me. 

This was definitely NOT MY CAR!

I opened the door and the man calmly said to me, “This isn’t your car.” 
Yeah, I got that! 

“I’m so sorry, my car looks exactly like this, Kelsey get out of the car…” were all words streaming from my embarrassed mouth. 

He said, “My son saw you get in the car and said, ‘Dad, they’re getting in our car.’” 

After he said it, I was almost incredulous.  Why didn’t you stop us?  How could you let me get into your car? 

He continued, “I didn’t want to scare you.”  This man – a random stranger – was worried about my feelings and scaring me, as I almost stole his car! Wow. I was impressed, but quickly came back to reality when I realized I still had packages in his trunk. I scrambled to the rear of the car and hurriedly removed the packages. 

After retrieving them (but leaving my dignity behind), I ran two cars down to my very identical black car, waving and telling my new friend, “See, this one’s mine…it looks just like yours!”  We smiled and waved goodbye.

Leaving the parking lot, I realized just how lucky we were that he was the man we chose to “carjack” and imagined what a less patient or kind person may have done, or how they might have reacted.

Moral of the story: If you see someone trying to steal your car at Dick’s or in the church parking lot, please be patient with them, smile, and try not to scare them. These things probably happen to them a lot! 


Jen Katzfey is the Outreach Coordinator at Saints John & Paul Parish and shares her stories to inspire others to give of their gifts of compassion and mercy.  She resides in the North Hills with her family and fluffy pooch.