Thanks for the supportive words, Peter.
It is a very hard call, knowing what to do. As I progress through the years (and society's laws become more restrictive), I try harder to make reasoned decisions over visceral ones, but it surely is difficult at times! There are some actions that cannot be undone once undertaken, and it would be horrible having regrets. Too, I have been a victim of violent crime (a murder attempt on the local bike path in 1994, when I was left for dead by a gang of wilding youths whose intent following a series of escalating antisocial behaviors was to see what it would be like to kick someone to death -- and I was the next random person to come 'round the corner), so know how badly one can be hurt by others who don't share such concerns.
There's a whole laundry list of what I'd like to have done (and most flashed through my mind at the time), but realistically there were limits on what I could have done. Fortunately, circumstances prevented me from dashing out immediately and all that might have followed. I'm actually kind of grateful for not having ready egress, though it was horrible to look on and be unable to do anything. That felt helpless, which didn't help the anger and horror of it all.
For some reason, I kept thinking of the Timson criminal family in James Mortimer's Rumpole stories.
Thank goodness I had taken the time to secure the bike properly and took all removable items so no theft of bike, components, or accessories took place. I'm glad the kid wasn't packing tools, but his intent was clear: If the bike had come free, he would surely have taken it.
I may have to hire the car again to drive up the Valley to collect the new one and on returning the rental, I'll be sure to secure my bike to the inside of the car lot fence, making it that little bit less convenient for attempted theft than parking it on the sidewalk side. This was cheap tuition for a valuable lesson. I would hate to lose that old bike; it has been with me since I purchased it used in 1984, and looks nearly new to this day thanks to my careful efforts at restoration.
Best,
Dan. (...who epitomizes the cautionary phrase, "Beware the fury of a patient man"; when Danneaux finally boils over it ain't pretty, so best avoided*)
*A phrase published in the First Century BC by Latin writer Publilius Syrus in his Maxim 289, "An over-taxed patience gives way to fierce anger". For those who are truly trivia buffs, John Dryden the English dramatist and poet laureate used the now more common variation in his 17th Century political poem, "Absalom and Achitophel": "Beware the fury of the patient man".
