Monday, April 4, 2016

Mystery of the Stolen Floor Mat Revealed

I have been living in KL for almost two years now and since then (including today), my floor mat has been stolen 3 or 4 times. It baffles me.

I mean seriously?

A floor mat?

Let me tell you why it baffles me:

First, it's a floor mat. It's what you use to wipe the dirt from underneath your shoes. It's what you use to filter the dirt which you've picked up from walking (from various places) and ensuring that your apartment/ house is not filled with the dirt that you've accidentally picked up from outside the home. Thus it's not exactly in pristine condition.

Secondly, it's only RM3.90. Not the most expensive floor mat either. It's not pretty either. It's the cheapest one available in Ikea. Yup, the black one. Hence, I know that this door mat is no eye candy.

Okay, let me tell you what happened:

My mum was on the phone (we were at home) and I heard a scratching sound near the door. And having had my floor mat stolen a couple of times, I realised that someone is pulling my floor mat from under my apartment door. A couple of inches of the floor mat is peeking from under the door, therefore if somebody were to pass by my apartment, they could definitely be able to identify that yes, I have a floor mat.

Now, this is where it gets to be interesting:

My apartment is at the end of the corridor. The apartment in front of mine is empty (my neighbour had moved out earlier last year) while the apartment next to mine is usually empty during the day (this neighbour is a very sweet young lady from Iran). For someone to purposely steal my floor mat, she (I actually confronted the thief today) would have to walk all the way to the end of the corridor (roughly about 30 metres or so) and come to my apartment (and when I think of it this way, it kinda creeps me out that someone is routinely checking out my floor mat and trying to steal them). And although a few inches of the floor mat is on the outer side of the door, you would need some effort to pull the whole thing out.

So when I realised that my floor mat was missing, I peeked out through the peephole of my door. The corridor was empty. I quickly unlatched my door, opened it and peeked out at the corridor. There was a small middle aged lady (dressed in a smart casual manner) about 5 - 10 metres away from my door, walking quickly towards the lift door. She had just put something (which appeared to be my floor mat) into her shoulder bag. And no, she is not my neighbour.

I called out to her and I said, "Excuse me, did you just take my floor mat?"

She didn't answer. She continued to walk quickly to the lift doors. When she had her fingers on the door, she looked at me.

I said again, "Excuse me, did you just take my floor mat?"

She looked at me, now both hands at the door and said, "No I didn't. I had come from the other side (i.e. the podium) and I was walking this way."

What amused me is that the direction in which she said she was walking is totally opposite from the direction that she took.

So I said, "Really? You did not take my floor mat?"

By this time, as much as the situation seemed pretty eerie to me (I mean this lady is kinda stalking my apartment and stealing my floor mat), I was also amused. Amused by the thought that here you are (the lady I mean) getting busted for stealing a RM3.90 floor mat.

She replied, "No." She then opened the lift doors and walked away.

I could have confronted her and insisted that I check her bag. And I know my floor mat would be in that bag. But I didn't. I mean, it's a RM3.90 floor mat. I could replace it any time I want. There's no use in embarrassing her over a floor mat. Although I did want to tell her that the floor mat is dirty and it's not exactly new. But I think she already knows this.

But the fact of the matter is, I don't think she's a real thief. Maybe what she has is an illness. Maybe she just has a thing over floor mats. But then again, I don't know.

This incident has also taught me a lesson. When my previous floor mats were stolen, I had actually thought that it would be by the cleaners or security guard. No, not because of what you are currently thinking. Simply because of the fact that they are the only ones who would walk to end of the corridor. I mean, would you walk all the way to end of a corridor if you don't have to? You won't right? And I wouldn't either. But this lady was pleasantly dressed, her clothes didn't scream that she was in poverty, and she had nice shoes and a nice handbag to boot (no, not a Louis Vuitton but it wasn't shabby either). From the way she looks and how she speaks, I was able to identify that she's a Malaysian, most probably from a particular race (which I will not mention here because this is not a racial post). And she speaks English as well (which shows she's educated enough to be able to converse in a language that is not her mother tongue). Another thing which surprised me is that she looked as if she's in her mid-forties or maybe early fifties. This incident has taught me that, people may not be what they seem but in spite of what they do, forgive them anyway. Why? Because, if you want Allah to forgive you for your sins, you might as well forgive others for what they have done to you. And if I have done anything that may have hurt you, please forgive me.

May Allah forgive us all. Ameen.


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

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