Thoughtless, Heartless, Thursday

Yesterday, Wednesday October 6th, at 3:34am my cell phone rang notifying my that Coffee Buzz had been broken in to. J and I both lept out of bed and the words coming out of our mouths were less than ladylike. The feeling I had when I thought of someone breaking in to my coffee shop, my business, my baby, my life was unlike one I have ever felt. It was like a combination of the feeling you get when you're about to get dumped and you know it's coming and can't do anything to stop it and the feeling you get when you know you're really in trouble. I was sick to stomach, angry, sad, confused and scared. I spent six minutes in the car on the way to the shop crying in fear, then I had to pull it together. This had to be dealt with. We pulled up to Coffee Buzz and saw this:



I was lightheaded. I didn't know if I should cry, kill someone or throw up. I was sickened, frustrated and heartbroken.

We have an alarm system (thank God) that was triggered when the a-hole(s) entered the shop. The system notifies the police first and then calls us. The police were at the scene within minutes. The a-hole(s) used a giant rock to break through the front door....the rock was found at the very back at the shop meaning they had to throw it REALLY hard for it to break through two panes of glass and fly the lenghth of the shop. They ripped our flat screen TV off of the fireplace and everything else was untouched (thank God).

Shortly after 4am the Crime Lab showed up. It was like an episode of CSI, they dusted for prints and everything. The only thing they could determine is that the a-hole(s) had gloves on. He did share with us that they've seen this kind of crime a lot, apparently there has been a fair amount of flat screen TVs that have
been stolen that are then pawned for drug money. If you wanted drug money I would have given it to you....it would have saved me a lot of anguish, a-hole(s).

By 4:30am the police and Crime Lab had gone and J and I were left standing in our beloved coffee shop alone surrounded by broken glass. The glass was everywhere. From the front to the back, everywhere.

J looked at me, gave me a hug and said, "Well, let's start a pot of coffee." Not long after that our guardian angels arrived, J's step-mom Judye and his little brother Travis. We called them because we have one broom at Coffee Buzz and we use it to sweep up crumbs. It would have taken us three days to sweep up the glass with that. So Judye and Travis came to the rescue with brooms, dust pans, a vacuum and a leaf blower in tow. We started by knocking all the glass left in the door out and then had to clean off and move all of the tables and chairs. Luckily, we have a vacant space attached where we could store everything while we swept, vacuumed and mopped the floors.

Five hours later, around 9:30am the store was cleaned up and back in order. But, we never skipped a beat, we were open for business at 6am just like any other day. Our customers we so extremely patient and supportive. The amount of love and support we have received from our family, friends, customers and neighbors is overwhelming. All of these wonderful people have really restored my faith that most people in this world really are good.

Even thought I am incredibly angry and upset I am thankful that this happened after hours so no one was hurt, the front door was the only thing vandalized and the TV was the only thing taken. It's unfair and cruel but it could have been so much worse.

I also need to publicly thank my amazing mother. Aside from my six minutes of tears very early in the morning, I held it together really well yesterday. There wasn't any time to get upset. We had to clean the store, file a claim with our insurance, order new glass for the front door and of course help customers. Then after work J's parents came over to watch the Twins game, so once again I was distracted. It was when I laid down to go to sleep that anxiety set in. I became super nervous and super scared. I had to open in the morning. It would still be dark out. I would be alone. The glass guys game and boarded up our door, which is great but not real reassuring for a girl who has to open the store alone 24 hours after a robbery. I was texting my mom hoping she would calm me down and give me some comforting words. Well, she comforted me to the extreme. My beautiful mama was in the Coffee Buzz parking lot this morning at 5:45 so that she could open the store with me. She stayed with me until 10am and helped more than I think she realized. I am so grateful and nothing I could type right now will adequately express how much it meant to me that she was here with me this morning. Thanks M.