In which I am robbed

Work lately has been a bear. I've been pulled out of the pharmacy for "special" assignments (like a meeting past the Petrified forest, flu shot clinics, or a radio show) more days than I'm actually working. That sounds fun - I mean, better than being on hold with your insurance company for 40 minutes just so they can tell me that they reclassified the generic drug you've taken for years as a tier three drug and you'll now pay 60% of the cost instead of a $10 copay. And a day or two out of the insurance-ruled, narcotic-seeking mayhem that is pharmacy is a nice change. But I really need to get back to work and manage my own store!
This past weekend I really hit the bitter point. I was "voluntold" to represent my company at their booth at the US conference on AIDs, which is being held here in New Orleans this year. I'm heavily involved (I spoke as part of a seminar we put on Tuesday), so I couldn't very well say no to coming out on Sunday.
But I wasn't happy.
I was giving up my weekend.
I was missing the Saints season opener.
And I was robbed!

When we arrived at the conference, we (the reps and I) stashed our purses in a closet built in to our pop-up booth. It was a safe location, we thought: the door was right behind the podium where we stood, so obviously no one had access without us knowing. Well, half-way through the morning one of the ladies couldn't find her iphone. She was emphatic that she'd left it in her purse. Then another lady returned from her lunch and told us, perplexed, that she'd gotten into a cab and had no cash in her wallet. We all grabbed our bags and realized that every one of us had been robbed: all of our cash over $1 had been swiped, along with one iphone (Everyone else had their phone on their person or, in my case, on the charger). I rarely carry cash, but of course I hit the ATM yesterday and am out $80!

We realized that the back of the booth was not flush with the booth behind us: there was a narrow "hall way" between the rows of booths. The back the booth, made of cheap but stiff foam and plastic board, had a bolted-on panel. The corners had simply been broken off, and the thief walked in behind us during our busy morning and took our money.

We'll never catch the guy, but obviously he worked for the hotel or the conference - someone who was there to set up and noticed us placing our purses in the closet.

Meanwhile, I'm out a weekend day, a great game, and $80. Sucks!