So Ghetto!

For the past five years I have had a designated parking spot at work. Running the length of the lot there is a knee-high cement wall with an iron railing seated into the concrete on top of it. Or there was until this morning.

I pulled in to my space and looked to the railing to gauge how close to the wall I was as I have for years only to discover huge chunks of it were missing. I did a double take. Surely it had been complete previously. Yes, I’m certain it was.

I gathered up my lunch and told Howie to have a good day and to please wait for me to go home. Then I took a closer look at the rail. There were metal shavings all along the top of the cement. The two-inch round pipes were beginning to rust but they were the old, thick variety and were still very sturdy.

There’s only one conclusion I could reach.  Someone or more likely several someones crept out of the shadows last night, hacked off pieces of the super-heavy railing and toted it away to sell as scrap metal. 

The parking lot is downtown.  It’s fairly deserted in that area at night.  Even so, it’s obvious whoever took it needed to cut it into pieces, either to fit into the back of a car or to be able to lift. That must have taken a lot of time and effort.  Scrap metal isn’t all that valuable.  I can’t imagine it would be worth the risk of being caught but I don’t know what they wanted some quick cash for.  Perhaps it was worth it to them.