Stolen bike? Outside the zendo? At 5AM?!

Okay, it wasn't my entire bike that was stolen, just the back wheel but, in terms of getting home from the zendo, having your back wheel stolen is pretty much the same as having your entire bike stolen- you have to walk home. And that's what this post is mostly about, my walk home after my back wheel was stolen this morning. But before I get to that, I wanted to give some info to people who ride their bike to the zen center:
#1 Apparently, any time is a good time to steal something that isn't locked and #2 If it isn't locked, it's likely to be stolen.
I used to only remove my bike lights when I came in the afternoon. I never thought someone would steal my bike lights at 5AM until, about 3 months ago, my light was stolen at 5AM. So now, I always take my lights with me.
I used to use a cable to lock my back tire to my lock, but then I decided that no one would actually bother to steal the back tire, especially at 5 in the morning. But, that's what was stolen this morning: an unlocked quick release back tire. Fortunately, they didn't notice that my seat is quick release too.
#3 It doesn't matter how valuable the item appears.
My bike is probably older than you. It's an '89 Cannondale- not fancy, no shocks, no disc brakes, etc. It's just a bike and my tire was not a fancy tire.
Okay, is your bike locked? Is your helmet locked? Do you have your lights with you? Are you bored and want to read about someone having their back wheel stolen? Read on...

So, when I walked out of the zendo at 6 this morning I looked at my bike and thought, "Huh, my wheel isn't sticking out from the metal rack, that's funny." And then I got closer and saw that it wasn't sticking out, because it wasn't there. All that was there was my chain, hanging off my frame. "No way, " I thought. But, there it was, no wheel. So, I unlocked my bike, put on my helmet, lifted my bike on to my shoulder, and started walking up the hill.
My first thought was, "I'm going to be so late. It's going to take me forever to walk home." I considered hailing a cab but then remembered that I had no money on me. Then I considered walking over to Haight street to catch a bus, but, again, remembered that I had no money on me. So, I just walked.
About a block up the hill, I saw four men standing outside a van that had its side door open.
"What happened to your bike?" they asked.
"Someone stole the back wheel," I said smirkily.
What I was thinking was, "It was probably you and my tire is probably in your van and you're probably asking me because you like the power that you have, having my tire right there, knowing that you stole it, and yet still asking me what happened."
And then I thought, "Wow, what prejudice you have against these guys in the van. What assumptions you are making. You have no idea what they're doing. What is it about them that makes you think they stole your tire? And look how closed you are. If you were more open, you might even find that they would be willing to help. Maybe they even did steal your tire and are just checking to see your response."
But I just kept walking, bitter about the fact that I was walking and couldn't do anything about it. So then I thought, "Okay, experience your suffering- feel what it feels like to have your tire stolen." And then I thought, "Ummm, that's not going to bring my tire back! That's not going to get me home any sooner!" And then I thought, "Darn it! Apparently I only want to embrace suffering when I think it's going to make things better. Darn that too!"
So I just kept walking. The same van drove past me and I thought, "See, if you had been open to them, they probably would have given you a ride home and you would have ended up getting home early.  Maybe the van door was open because they are delivering newspapers." But as they drove away, I didn't see any newspapers being thrown out of the van...
As I walked, I noticed how many more people were out because I thought I was so late. I imagined grabbing a power bar instead of eating breakfast, just so that I could get to school on time. When I got home, it was 6:15, only about 8 minutes later than my normal arrival time- not such a big deal. I did some things to make up for lost time and got to school, at the most, five minutes later than normal. By recess, I had forgotten all about the fact that my tire was stolen this morning.
3 months ago, when my bike light was stolen, I felt totally wronged. I thought, "What?! I'm meditating. I'm, like, trying to save all beings... Shouldn't I not have things stolen from me while I'm doing this? Shouldn't I be exempted from things like this since I'm being so noble? And man, that person who took my light... they've got some serious bad stuff coming their way- stealing outside a Buddhist temple, come on!"
And this morning, I at first thought about this being some life lesson or having some meaning. But really, all that happened was that my tire was stolen. All this is, is someone seeing something valuable and taking it.
So, no morning zazen for me this week. And, another long walk this weekend, only this time it will be to the bike store for a new fixed back wheel. And, with our extra hour for daylight savings, I'll search the house for the leash so that my seat can't be stolen either. Does this mean I'm trying to avoid future suffering? Maybe, maybe not. Mostly it just feels like I'm getting a new tire so that I can ride my bike to the zendo again, and I'm getting a fixed one so that I don't have to carry around a cable to keep it from being stolen.