As much as I would love to talk about Casino Royale right now, I’m afraid I have another story I want to tell. This has nothing to do with movies. It has to do with something personal that happened to me. So buckle up, because it’s a long story.
As some of you might recall, this weekend I went to Wizard World Texas. Originally, I wasn’t going to go. But after the success I had with the launch of "Theater Hopper: Year One" at Wizard World Chicago back in August, Cami sweet-talked me into fast-tracking "Theater Hopper: Year Two" and premiering it at Wizard World Texas. When I learned my good friends Mitch Clem, Zach Miller and Taki Soma were planning on going as well, it was a done deal. I was excited. I felt like we had some momentum behind us and we were riding the wave.
We left Des Moines last Thursday and it took us about 12 hours to get to Arlington. We made it to the hotel, gathered up our stuff and checked in. A little later we went to the nearby Bennigan’s where we ran into Zach and Taki. I took Cami back to the hotel room to hit the hay after a long day on the road and then went back to Bennigan’s to catch up with Zack and Taki. We had a great time sharing stories and telling jokes. I went to bed that night really looking forward to exhibiting the next day.
Despite the fact that we had been on the road for so long the day before, I woke up with a ton of energy. I was bouncing around the hotel room getting ready. I was eager to meet the fans and get going. Cami and I spilled out onto the parking lot a little bit later ready to head out to the convention. I was carrying a bag with Cami’s books in it and popped the trunk to throw in the back.
Then I noticed something was wrong.
"Uhh… where are those two big Tupperware’s with all the shirts in them?"
"What?"
"The Tupperware’s. Where… ohmigod, we’ve been robbed! Someone broke into our car!"
Here it is – the first day before the convention, I’m amped up and ready to go and the rug has been completely pulled out from under us.
In a dash, I went to the front desk of the hotel. "You’ve gotta call the cops! Our car has been broken into!"
"Tsk," said the hotel clerk, dejected. "That’s, like, the four or fifth one today!"
I was put on the phone with the Arlington Police Department and gave them my contact information. Within a few minutes, I was contacted on my cell phone by an officer who helped me file my report. Here’s what they stole:
- Two Tupperware containers containing the following items:
- 25 brand new Spoiler t-shirts that had been delivered to me earlier in the week.
- Roughly 25 t-shirts of various designs. The last of my shirt inventory that I had planned on selling off.
- All of my promotional materials including about 250 fliers that I had printed up so I could hand them out to people who visited my table.
- Various display-related tools and materials. This includes a movie-themed table cloth I use to dress up my space, flashing lights I put on the PVC display behind me to attract attention and things like scotch tape, string, a pocket knife, stands for me to prop copies of the books on, sharpies to sign the books and recently created cardboard signs to make things on the table more engaging. For example, a sign that says "You laugh at it, you buy it!" to put on the Spoiler shirt.
The also stole a cell phone from the glove compartment. It’s actually my old cell phone that I threw in there after it was replaced last month. It doesn’t work. So I guess the joke’s on them.
They stole a ring that cost me about $10 that I left on the dash when I was trying to get into my pockets to pay a toll, but didn’t take the loose change also left scattered.
They tried to yank out the auxiliary cable and charged for my iPod that I have mounted into the dash. It was stretched out all over the place, but they couldn’t get it free. Miraculously, it still worked so we had something to listen to on the ride home.
What pissed me off most is that they took my Game Boy DS and every single Game Boy game I had ever collected since I was about 12. I had brought it with us to give Cami something to do while I worked on the convention floor. I probably wouldn’t have brought it otherwise.
Here’s a list of things they DIDN’T steal:
- My two-wheel cart that I use to load in with.
- My mannequin torso wearing a Spoiler shirt that I use as part of my booth display.
- A 56" long tripod bag containing all of the pieces of PVC I use to hold up my 4′ x 2′ Theater Hopper banner and price list behind me.
- A folding chair for Cami to sit in and be comfortable.
- My sunglasses.
- Four boxes of books – two for Year One and two for Year Two.
The last item on the list is what really surprised me. Besides the Game Boy, the books were the most valuable items in the car. I don’t know how to feel about that. Either we’re dealing with illiterates or they just didn’t think the books were very funny.
As devastating as it is to be stolen from, at least they didn’t break a window to get in. That would have made the car ride home ESPECIALLY difficult. Apparently they must have had a slim jim, shimmied it in the door and popped the lock that way.
More than anything, the theft was just bad timing. I’m convinced I could have used the shirts to sell more books. I bundle the two together for a discount at conventions and people seem to really like it. I can’t tell you how many people came up to my booth, saw the Spoiler shirt on the mannequin and asked "How much is that? I have to have that shirt!"
I would tell them it was $10, but that I actually didn’t have any with me because my car was broken into the night before. People were sympathetic. Some people told me "Welcome to Dallas!" I had one girl tell me car theft was really common in the area because it’s very touristy. She worked at a restaurant in the area and her car was broken into three days after starting her job. It figures. In between our hotel and the convention center was Six Flags over Texas. Ameriquest Field where the Texas Rangers play is also right next door.
I told people that if they really liked the shirt that I would take down their mailing information and send them one when I got back home. Surprisingly, I actually sold a few that way. Only one guy balked when I asked for the money up front.
We were able to sell a few books and make some money. Friday was actually a good day, sales wise. We couldn’t match it on Saturday, though – which was a busier day on the floor. We had a goal in mind, but we only made about half that. So it was frustrating to suffer a wasted opportunity. We didn’t even make enough money to cover the cost of the trip.
Still, as unnerving as it is to be stolen from, I’m actually pretty thankful that it wasn’t worse. They could have stolen my iPod or my laptop which I thankfully had the common sense to take out of the car. If they had taken that, I would have been much more upset.
More importantly, we’re safe. They could have tried carjacking us while we were driving around or kidnapped us. Who knows? That’s the bad thing about being stolen from. It makes you crazy paranoid. I thought I was getting over it at one point until I opened up the trunk on the way home and saw a used cigarette but in the back. It makes you feel violated all over again.
It’s funny. Because when I would tell all the people about what happened at my booth, the mood would instantly drop and they would be concerned for me. I made light of it and would tell them that it was okay and that telling the story over and over again is a little bit like therapy. Then I realized how true that was and figured I would share the whole story with you. I’m hoping that putting it out there like this kind of closes the book on the whole affair.
It’s hard to be too upset. You start to think about the reasons why someone would steal. Was it for monetary gain? Boredom? Who’s to say? Apparently they needed my stuff more than I did if they wanted it bad enough to steal.
And you always have to remember that no matter how bad you think you have it, someone else has it worse. When I told Mitch what had happened, he told me about the time someone broke into his house and stole all of his CD’s! Dave Sherrill, an artist with
Stumblebum Studios who I was really looking forward to meeting at the con came down with a bout of bacterial meningitis! If you want the full story on that one, you’ll have to check out
his Live Journal page.
So what can you do? You could be angry about it, I suppose. You could be afraid. For a while I felt stupid and ashamed. I felt like a failure in front of Cami because this was her first time coming to a convention with me and it turned out so horribly.
But at the same time, I thank goodness she was there because she really pulled me through it. She kept me from flying off the handle. She kept me sane.
Am I annoyed I was stolen from? Of course. But you have to move on. I choose to think about some of the happier memories like getting to spend the weekend with great friends, hanging out and talking for hours just to see who could make the others laugh. I think about going to see Stranger than Fiction that Saturday night and feeling totally moved. I think about visiting Cami’s family and how gracious they were to have us spend the night on Sunday before we faced another 12 hours in the car driving home. I’m thankful for the restorative powers of a home-cooked meal.
At any rate, that was the bulk of my experience at Wizard World Texas – warts and all. At this point I think it was almost good it happened this way. I guess I don’t have to worry about getting rid of the rest of my shirt inventory anytime soon! It’s an opportunity to start over. I think I’m going to circle the wagons and do exactly that. When it’s all said and done, Theater Hopper is going to be better than ever!
That said, don’t ever stay at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Arlington. That hotel sucks!
