Today's story is called The Not So Stolen Skates.
The Not So Stolen Skates
My friend "Helen" is a collector. Her home and car are filled with stuff.
When Helen's son, "Saul" was little, he was sort of part of my family since he skated for a time with my daughter "Ana."
My three children and Saul had so much fun together that Helen would drop Saul off at our house all the time so the kids could play. Some people thought I had four children when they saw us together at the ice rink.
We all were like family and had so much fun together when the kids were little. At the mall rink, the kids played together all day long and just had fun skating.
When I took my kids to the figure skating training center in the mountains, it didn't take long for Helen to decide to take Saul there too. We were not really ready for the intense atmosphere that was in the training arena, but we also knew that it was the right place for our children to skate if they wanted to be as best they could be.
The training center ice rink in the mountains that we eventually all skated at had a table in the lobby that once in awhile was filled with lost and found items. Helen's collecting nature tempted her when she saw things on that table.
One day, in late 2007, Helen saw a pair of white skates on that table. She asked the people working at the front desk if it was okay for her to take them to her car for Saul to try on. She explained that Saul would be embarrassed to try on white skates in public. Unfortunately, Helen collected so many things, that she forgot that she had borrowed them and left the skates in her car.
It turned out that those skates were not lost and found items, but had just been left on the table by a skater. When the skater returned to collect her skates and discovered they were missing, the rink's video surveillance camera showed Helen taking the skates.
Helen was asked to return the skates and she immediately complied; however, the skater insisted that Helen had damaged the inside of the boots with slashes. Helen of course denied damaging the skates, but no one believed her.
A formal complaint was made against Helen to the rink's skating club. There were numerous meetings and the outcome for Helen was not positive. She was banned from the club although Saul was allowed to continue his membership. The arena management decided to continue to allow Helen to go inside the rink and Saul of course was allowed to continue skating and training there.
Years have passed, but Helen is still very upset about the incident. Saul is no longer skating, but the memory of the "Not So Stolen Skates" will forever stay with them.
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