Bradford Lad: Thief Sitting Pretty?
Mike Coatesworth is ill-at-ease after the theft of his garden bench.
The sun is shining again, and at last it is getting to a temperature where I can sit in my front garden without my jumper and enjoy the scenic view. I enjoyed sitting on my garden bench, chatting to some of the people who passed by, chatting to passers-by, watching the birds, and he horses racing around in the fields.
Note that word "enjoyed''. I no longer have the bench. Some heartless person, or maybe there was more than one, stole it.
The bench wasn't new, nor was it expensive. But I enjoyed sitting on it. Sometimes while sitting in the garden I wrote newspaper columns and stories. Maybe the bench has been re-painted. Made to look smart. Was the thief so desperate that he couldn't afford the bench? Or was it a case of being too lazy to go to the garden centre and buy one?
When I get around to buying a new bench I suppose I will have to secure it. Fasten it down in some way. When I was a lad you didn't have to fasten things down or hide them away. Footballs, bikes, even lawnmowers... You could leave them overnight in the garden, and they would still be there the following morning. Of course there was some crime, but neighbour did not steal from neighbour.
The theft of a garden bench isn't a big matter, but it makes you feel just a little bit unsafe in your own little kingdom.
I don't suppose the thief will be doing anything creative while sitting on my bench. If he's too lazy to buy his own he won't be making the effort to write an article.
