A post of frustration-open letter to the offender

[bermudashorts]

We put address stickers on our camera and cell phones.

At least if we lose them they have our name, address and phone numbers on them.

Maybe the finder will feel they have some direction then on returning them.

 

 

I do the same with the stickers, but that can be taken off so

I also engrave my name on the bottom.

[Sea Island Lady]

I have posted this before, but it warms my heart to know that there are still some honest people in this world.

 

We were on a private excursion in St. Thomas, VI. We had hired a taxi van to take us on a tour of the countryside. He then dropped us off in the Havensight mall area. We paid the driver and went on our merry way to shop. About two blocks from where we were let off, I heard a male voice yelling "lady, lady", so I turned around. Imagine my surprise (and relief) to see our driver running down the street after me, with my camera in his hand. He was cleaning out his van and found my camera in the seat. I had no idea it was missing. :)

[akysmom]

Okay first of all 3redheads, Your post made me cry. I am so very sorry for the loss of your pics. I guess the "daughter dancing with her dad" part started the tears as I have a very precious photo of our then 17 year old dancing with her daddy!

 

I hope it blows up in their face! Literally

[cruiseco]

Years ago some clients lost their camera onboard a HAL ship. It turns out it wasn't stolen but had fallen into some tight corner on one of the public decks and wasn't found by the crew for several weeks after. The clients checked with the purser's desk a couple of times but after that assumed it was stolen and gone forever.

 

HAL gave the camera to the photo guys on board and had them develop the film and make some prints. Someone took the time to walk around the ship and check with every stateroom attendant to see if anyone remembered them. They found the right cabin steward but he couldn't remember the exact week our clients were onboard. So the guy faxed copies of the prints to the agencies that had clients in that stateroom in the last couple of months to see if anyone recognized them. Once we spotted our clients we told them where to ship the camera, the negatives and the prints. The clients were overjoyed to get them back. Good detective work by the HAL people.

[Dawniepoo]

I actually had my driver's lisence inside the camera case. That never materialized either.

[crusinmama06]

Awwww that's terrible. I always believe in karma...what comes around goes around.

[Let'sGo!]

I have to join the others and say I am so sorry about your camera. It would be wonderful to have it mysteriously show up in the mail one day, but I know that won't likely happen.

 

But I have to share an amazing story... I was on a girls weekend with my mom and some friends in Las Vegas a couple of years back. It was our first night there and I went off and left my little "good luck" wallet at a slot machine. It contained most of my spending money for that weekend. When I realized where I had left it I went immediately back and of course it was gone. I figured - it's Las Vegas and that's what people are there for - to win money. There was no way I would get it back.

Just the same, I left my name and room number with the security guard at the hotel. Later that night I returned dejected to the room to see a message flashing on my phone. Amazingly - a man there on business with his buddies found my purse and turned it in. All $500 cash that was inside was still there, along with his business card. The next morning I called to the desk to find out if he was a guest at the hotel and they told me he had checked out. Once I got back home, I sent a huge "bouquet" of cookies in the shape of $ signs to his office address on the business card, thanking him for his good deed.

 

I am still amazed at how awful some people can be in the world... like whoever took your camera without regard to what memories it might hold for you. But then I have to remember that there is an equal number of people with goodness in them. It's up to us to decide which group we want to be in. It IS true - what goes around, comes around.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I totally understand the OP's frustration (as well as that of other victims). It is just so sad that some pathetic excuse for a human being will take advantage of a situation and walk away with anothers' belongings (of any type). Those of us who have values and respect others will just never understand. But I also believe "what comes around goes around"...

 

My husband's camera was stolen...from work, no less. So there are a limited number of people who could have taken it (barely a dozen). He loves his job, but it so affected how he feels about the others that work there. He'll never know who the thief is, but he'll always remember that one of them is one.

[LuvBNatC]

I was walking out on deck and saw 2 ladies sitting in chairs. By the time I reached them, they'd gone inside, but a plastic cigarette lighter was on one of their chairs. I left it there because 1) It was inexpensive and 2) They might come back for it.

 

But when I went inside a while later, the women were still just inside the door, so I asked them if either of them had lost a lighter and told them where I'd seen it. They both gave me a blank look.

 

We were all standing there trying to figure it out when a man came in from deck and tossed the lighter into the ashtray by the elevator. Then one of the women said, "Hey, that's the lighter from my purse!" and retrieved it.

 

I'm wondering what that guy was thinking to put the lighter where he did. It didn't seem he intended the owner to find it. Maybe he considered it a smoker's just punshment?...:confused:

[raina*faith]

I too am sorry for your loss. Memories like that sometimes can't be replaced.

[Sea Island Lady]

A few weeks ago at the beach, I was headed to my golf cart near the boardwalk, when I saw another cart parked next to mine. There on the cart seat (in plain view) was a really nice cell phone. No one was around, nor had I passed anyone on the boardwalk going toward the beach. There was no way that I could locate the owner on the beach because there were hundreds of people. I was also not about to leave the phone sitting on the seat, so I took the phone and placed it in a cup holder and then placed a paper card around the phone so that it would not be visible to anyone that was passing by. The owners would have been able to easily find the phone. I hope I did the right thing, because I feel it would have surely been snatched had it remained on the seat.

 

Two years ago, my 9 year old niece left her brand new tennis shoes on that same boardwalk, while she went for a late afternoon walk. Something we have all done many, many times. When she returned, her shoes were gone! :mad: We searched everywhere and could not find them. The beach we go to is a small family beach that we have been going to for over 35 years, so we were just astounded that someone would take a pair of children's shoes.:eek:

[cruiseco]

so I took the phone and placed it in a cup holder and then placed a paper card around the phone so that it would not be visible to anyone that was passing by. The owners would have been able to easily find the phone. I hope I did the right thing, because I feel it would have surely been snatched had it remained on the seat.

:

 

Same thing happened to me a copuple of years ago. I took the phone and called a couple of numbers on the speed dial and told those who answered to have the person who owned the phone to call the phone and I'd get it back to him/her. The people on the speed dial were able to know whose phone it was with their caller id. She called me that same day and picked it up a little later.

[AdMaven]

Same thing happened to me a copuple of years ago. I took the phone and called a couple of numbers on the speed dial and told those who answered to have the person who owned the phone to call the phone and I'd get it back to him/her. The people on the speed dial were able to know whose phone it was with their caller id. She called me that same day and picked it up a little later.

 

I got a call from Kohl's department store one day and they found my daughter's cell phone. The clerk said she just dialed the number that said "MOM". :D Daughter realized her phone was missing and walked up while we were on the phone.

[SandraLee]

I have tons of those sticker labels that you always get in the mail for free. I put one on every piece of something that I would like to be returned if I lost it. My son has them on his DS, my phone, my camera, . . . . I believe most people are trustworthy and will return the item if they found it.

 

I was going through security at the airport a few weeks ago. Someone left their camera in the bin. They were long gone and forgot. If it had a sticker, I would have paid a couple of dollars to ship it back to them. But, as it was, I had no choice but to give it back to the TSA guys. And, what do you think the possibility of getting it back from there would be?

 

Even though you can peel off the stickers pretty easily, if the stickers were on there, I think most people are less likely to steal something.

[SandraLee]

oops... posted twice.

[MrsPete]

A lost camera story with a (moderately) good ending:

 

A couple years ago my husband and I attended a wedding. I was a good friend of the bride's mother, so I was helping with some of the food and a few little things at the reception. DH and I arrived early, staked out a table, and left his coat and my camera on the table. It was a small wedding, and we were close by -- it never occured to me that anyone would take my camera in such circumstances!

 

Halfway through the reception, DH asked me if I'd moved the camera -- no, I hadn't. We both looked all around, and we became angry when we decided that someone'd taken it! We both tried to scope out other people's cameras, trying to identify the thief, but we failed -- we never really had much of a chance, given that it was a plain black model, much like everyone else's little point-and-shoot camera.

 

At the end of the reception, we stayed late -- again, I'd agreed to help the bride's mother with some details. After the great majority of the guests were gone, DH found our camera -- it was up on the corner of the stage, far from the tables, the food, and the guests! When we developed the film, we found pictures of strangers on our camera. We believe that someone picked it up, thinking it was their own, then they suddenly realized that they'd become "accidental theives" -- probably when a husband and wife realized that they were both holding "their camera" -- and they dumped the evidence.

 

My advice: No matter what kind of camera you're using, use some sort of easy-to-spot identification. A large colored nametag, a colored neck strap . . . whatever works with your camera. I've seen some pretty little beaded wrist-bands at Target that're meant for point-and-shoots. Even if it's just a disposable, write your name/room number on it; you'd never know your waterproof Kodak in a box of lost disposables!

[mstea]

Good luck with your lost pics.... I'm so sad for you :(

how old was your daughter? Maybe you can reproduce that picture...

I'm always afraid I will let my guard down and forget my camera, like you I would be crushed....

Great tips, downloading often, more memory cards... great ideas...

Good luck, I hope you do find your pictures.....

My heart goes out to all of you...

[Sea Island Lady]

Same thing happened to me a copuple of years ago. I took the phone and called a couple of numbers on the speed dial and told those who answered to have the person who owned the phone to call the phone and I'd get it back to him/her. The people on the speed dial were able to know whose phone it was with their caller id. She called me that same day and picked it up a little later.

Never occurred to me to do that. Good tip!

 

My daughter lost her cell phone last year...never turned up. This past weekend, she lost *or had it stolen) her check card. We were able to have it cancelled and luckily, no one used it for the 12 hours before she noticed it gone. the restaurant that she lost it in, said they didn't find it. She used it there, and then came straight home. We have not heard from anyone about finding it.

 

At the end of the reception, we stayed late -- again, I'd agreed to help the bride's mother with some details. After the great majority of the guests were gone, DH found our camera -- it was up on the corner of the stage, far from the tables, the food, and the guests! When we developed the film, we found pictures of strangers on our camera. We believe that someone picked it up, thinking it was their own, then they suddenly realized that they'd become "accidental theives" -- probably when a husband and wife realized that they were both holding "their camera" -- and they dumped the evidence.

That's a very popular trick with teenagers and college students at wedding parties. They think it is funny. :rolleyes:

[Emi's Mom]

I hope it blows up in their face! Literally

 

DITTO!!! :D

[DrivesLikeMario]

Sorry to hear about your camera loss. I've lost two of them on cruises (1 on Princess & 1 on RCI).

 

When I set down my camera in the video arcade to go on some of the rides with my sons, I had walked maybe 15' away from it. About 10 mins. later, I turned around to get the camera & it was gone. The only person around us that entire time was a cruise line employee. At least it was the first day of the cruise.

 

The first time I lost my camera, I had packed it in the middle of dirty clothes in a garment bag. I figured, "Who would dig through all those dirty clothes to get a camera?" I also figured no one would be able to tell it was there. WRONG.

 

When we picked up our luggage at the pier, someone had taken a sharp instrument (like a pocket knife), made an "L" shaped cut in the garment bag and stolen the camera. All of the dirty clothes were still there, just not the camera. I reported this immediately to the RCI rep. who saw the obvious damage to the bag, waited for about 30 mins. while she filled out a report, wrote a letter to RCI when I got home and never did hear a thing back from them.

 

But, there ARE good people out there. On our Liberty cruise in June, I left our carry-on bag in the dining room on the first day of the cruise. It had all our passports, cash, credit cards and drivers' licenses in it. A waiter found it and turned it in to the Lost & Found. People like that give you faith that not all of the human race is corrupt!

[J and G]

A few years ago, I coordinated a Halloween carnival at our church. After a very long day of setting up and an evening of carnival activities, we were cleaning up and found a woman's wallet full of credit cards and about $7 in cash.

 

When 9 PM came and went without the wallet's owner returning to claim it, I stopped to call her so that she could come pick up her wallet before bedtime. After several calls and quite a bit of searching, I located the owner. She proceeded to quiz me about the contents of the wallet, listing every credit card she had and asking me to verify that they were all there. She also claimed to have several hundred dollars in the wallet, and virtually accused me of stealing it.

 

She then said that she couldn't come get the wallet and asked if someone could bring it to her. I told her that we were still cleaning up and that she could pick up her wallet at the church office at her convenience.

 

Incidents like that make one wonder if going to the trouble to be honest is worthwhile, when the honest person is virtually accused of theft. Of course, I have to live with myself so I will continue to be honest. It's about how I feel about my actions...not how someone else responds.

[Turquoise Sea]

I am so sorry you lost your camera. I have kept a diary since I was 12 years old and I am now 46. I have not missed a day. Sometimes

I read them and it all comes back to me. Little things that I have forgotten are all there for me to enjoy again. I suggest you write it all down every little detail you can remember from your cruise. Especially your B-day party at Chops and your daughter dancing with

your husband. Even without pictures, sometimes having it written down can bring pictures of the event back to your mind. Can you check with the cruise ship again to see if anything was turned in on

the departure day? Good luck!!!

 

What an excellent idea! I'm glad you suggested writing down every detail.

To the OP, I'm sorry you lost your camera and those precious pics can't be replaced, but your detailed words on paper, will be cherished by your daughter, who will one day, as a woman, read the words her mother wrote. She will keep those journals, written in your handwriting, even when you are long gone from this world.Start writing!;)

 

Best wishes!

[TMarie]

I am sorry for OP's loss of camera and the photos contained therein. I will join others in saying that you do have your memories, the pictures in your mind are yours forever.

 

We do not own a digital camera, or any camera other than occasional single use cameras. And when we do take photos, we develop them and then the photos sit in envelopes, and the envelopes are tossed in drawers. At some point I decided that the pictures I wanted most were the ones in my mind, and I stopped worrying. I still see some people who seem to spend the vacation or whatever event it is not really participating, but rather standing apart, looking not at their children but at the viewfinder, recording videos that may or may not ever be watched. Enjoy the moments, as OP did.

 

As for what goes around comes around, I hope it does, and I hope by slim chance someone sees this thread, realizes it was them who walked off with that very camera, and somehow sends it back. But then, I also hope Michigan will figure out how to beat Ohio State again anytime soon.

 

I am very thankful that my mom took so many pictures and videos when I was a child. When youre a child, you dont retain every single memory, but seeing the picture and watching the videos bring them out. Also, if you have ever had a loved one with memory loss or who was very ill, you would see how priceless photos are. My Grandmother had a ton of photos from when she was a young girl, and when she passed away, those memories and frozen seconds of time are all that are left. We recently found a lost video of her at christmas one year. My mom and I sat there in silence with tears in our eyes watching her laugh and make faces opening her presents.

 

I love scrapbooks, but find that I dont have much time to work on them. I ended up having a TRUNK of photos. There are thousands that probably arent anything special...but the ones that caught a special moment, a special look in our eyes, anything- those are priceless.

[Captain Canuck]

thats one of the good things about film...we did get most of the images from the film that went splash....we now have digital cameras...much cheaper as we don't print much (took 1387 pictures on our last cruise.) but I am not sure how a memory card would like water.

[ondeckatsea]

My husband put his new video camera on the deck while we were talking to old friends we were meeting, on the first day of a cruise. He realized it a few minutes later and naturally, it was gone. We went to the pursers desk and someone had found it and turned it in. Good news/ bad news. They kept the battery which cost about $80.