I’ve been robbed twice. The first time was a classic trick. One day after school, I was trading Pokémon cards as usual. I had just received a new pack and went to the kid who checked for fake cards. He told me that one card, the Kyogre EX, was fake. I was suspicious because I had mentioned that Kyogre was one of my favorites. He explained that the redness on the back and the paper thickness were off. I trusted him and showed him my entire collection, keeping the Kyogre. After chatting for a bit, I took my book and went home.

The next day, I did the same thing, but when I got home, my entire collection was gone. My mom called some teachers, and it was a big deal because losing something as a kid feels devastating. A few weeks later, the kid approached me and said he found something in the boys’ locker. I checked, and it was my collection, but my beloved Kyogre and Pikachu were missing. I asked him directly why he took those two cards, and he denied it. He offered to trade me for “similar” cards. I agreed, lost five cards, but got my two favorites back.

The second time I was robbed was about two years ago. A seemingly legitimate Amazon delivery driver rang my doorbell, handed me my package, and started making small talk about how beautiful my lawn was and how he wanted someone to make his lawn look like mine. At that moment, I had no idea what was happening. I later suspected that my bike and skis were taken and stuffed into the delivery van. To clarify, it wasn’t an Amazon Prime delivery, but it looked similar because of the blue color.

After the small talk, he said goodbye, and I checked my package. To my surprise, it was an old book, like the free ones libraries give away. I felt something was off, but since I’m not a morning person, I went to work without thinking much about it. When I got home and went through my usual routine, I felt like I had forgotten something. I remembered the Amazon guy and the package, and then I realized that Amazon doesn’t ship to my country. I know that sounds like an important detail to forget, but I can be pretty forgetful.

Confused, I checked my lawn and then turned my home upside down, quickly noticing my bike and skis were missing. The bike wasn’t a huge loss since I didn’t ride much, but it still hurt because bikes aren’t cheap. The skis were particularly upsetting because they were a gift from someone very important to me. Luckily, my insurance covered everything, but the sentimental value can never be replaced. The police were informed, and some of my neighbors were also missing items.