A Thief Among Us

Things go missing in Mexico--pale skin, iPods, drugs, people. You leave something out in the open, unattended, and the next thing you know it's gone. People just take shit.

Last February I left my Lacoste flip flops beside my chair at the beach and when I went to pack up and go home they had vanished. Gone. I had to hail a cab to take me home. I wasn't about to traverse the dirty Vallarta cobblestones barefoot.

Even at work you don't want to leave anything valuable overnight--it most likely won't be there in the morning when you go to retrieve it. Tex, one of the managers, "lost" his aviator sunglasses the day he arrived back in town. He came into Joe Jack's, put them down and poof. Gone.

A couple weeks ago Ari, another server, had her iPod swiped from the bar. It's really kind of crappy. The thief or thieves are my co-workers. People I see almost every day. People I like. People I'd like to trust but how can you? A couple ruin it for everyone.

Sunglasses and iPods are one thing--kids stuff really--but now the thief is getting serious. $500 was stolen from the sous chef's purse two weeks ago. She's been with Joe since he opened the Shack five years ago and is one of his dearest employees. Stealing from Brisa is like robbing Joe's own mother. And then slapping her in the face.

Joe was so mad when he found out. He even offered $1000 to anyone who might know what happened. No one stepped up.

And then Tuesday night things got real serious. $3000 was nicked from the safe. I don't know all the details but there's only a few people in the restaurant with access to it, and obviously, these are some of Joe's most trusted employees. People who have been with him for years and who's jobs mean more to them than a few thousand dollars.

The speculation game is on.

Was the safe left open? Does someone else know the combination? Was it one of people who know's the combo? Is the thief the same person who stole from Brisa or someone else? Who had the opportunity and the motivation? Who will be the worst dressed at this year's Academy Awards?

It's anyone's guess.

I just can't wait to find out. Until then the rumor mill will be working harder than a hustler on the beach. And that's hard work! I've done it.