What if I told you I’m not the guy that stole your purse?

This happened to me about three years ago when I was about to turn 19. <br><br>I had just gotten my learner’s permit. I had to go to a birthday party in another part of our town that I wasn’t familiar with, but I knew that I was going to get there by taking a bus and then a ride share. <br><br>It’s around 11am, I’m already running late because the bus that I need to take is still an hour away and the weather is awful. It’s raining, freezing, and super windy, and I didn’t have an umbrella. <br><br>I take the bus to our town center. I then take an Uber from there to the location of the birthday party. Once I get there, the ride-share drops me off on a main road, but I realize that the building that I’m supposed to be at isn’t visible from the road. It was an event center that was tucked away from view by a bunch of trees. <br><br>I spend about five minutes looking for the correct building. I ask a couple of random people if they know where the building is that I need to be at, but they don’t know either. I was wearing a bright pink raincoat and a yellow rain hat, so it’s not like no one saw me at all. I was pretty much the only visible person on the road.<br><br>I then proceed to walk down the road until I find the building that the party is being held at. Once I get there, the front door is open and the party is in full swing. I walk in and say hello, and everyone tells me the door is always open during the day. They don’t worry about someone sneaking in that way because they have cameras all around the building. <br><br>I spend about an hour at the party, and my next task is to go to the grocery store. I don’t know how to drive yet, and the bus isn’t running often because it’s on the weekend. I take the same route that I did to get there: I take a bus to the town center and then an Uber to the grocery store. <br><br>I’m waiting at the bus stop, but it’s raining so hard that I can’t see a thing. I’m also starting to worry that the bus isn’t coming because the time between buses are so irregular on the weekends. While I’m waiting at the bus stop, a lady taps me on my shoulder. <br><br>“I think you dropped something.” She said to me. <br><br>I looked back at her and I saw that she was holding a purse. It was a black leather purse with gold trim. It was definitely a nice one. I didn’t recognize it, but I don’t know everyone in town. <br><br>“I think this might be yours?” She said, and I shook my head.<br><br>I told her that I don’t know her and that the purse definitely doesn’t belong to me. I told her I was going to the grocery store, but she could tag along with me if she wanted. She declined and left.<br><br>Twenty minutes pass, and the lady from the grocery store approaches me again. <br><br>“I saw you with the lady who had the purse. I think she gave it to you, but I think you might have stolen it from someone. The lady you were with looked familiar.” She said. <br><br>I looked at her and told her that I didn’t steal anything and I don’t know who that lady is, but I’m definitely not the thief. I’m a teenage girl, and I’m wearing a pink raincoat. Why would I steal something?<br><br>The lady then tells me that the lady looks familiar to her because she saw her on the news a few days ago. The lady stole a purse from someone and the police caught her. She was arrested. <br><br>I asked the lady if she knows the story behind it and she told me that a lady had her purse stolen at the event center that I had just come from. I told her that I was just at the event center for a birthday party, and I showed her my invitation. <br><br>I didn’t find out what happened to the lady who got her purse stolen until much later. I didn’t see her again after that day. I kept the purse for a while and sold it at a garage sale for a pretty good price. But I always wonder what happened to her. I hope she got her purse back, because I have it in my possession. I don’t know if she’s still in town. I don’t even know her name. But I hope that she got her story told.