Editorial: Thieves value nothing

Thieve know the value of nothing, says Mark Story. Photo / File

We'd been living in Hawke's Bay only a few months before the barbecue and bike were stolen.

The retired cooker was rusted, covered in grease and functioned well as a cockroach farm. I don't believe in karma, but good luck to anyone who then ate anything grilled atop that festering plate. The last laugh was ours.

But the theft of the mountain bike wasn't a laughing matter.

That trusty steed endured for years as I biked up the near vertical Ngauranga Gorge every day after work in Wellington. I also once set it a near impossible task of completing the Karapoti Classic Mountainbike Race. One of the very few cycles without shocks, the bike held up beautifully in the 5-hour alpine contest.

The last time I saw it was when I left her at the back of our St Leonards home. Regrettably, I'd forgotten to lock it.

Lamenting the loss with a neighbour the following day I was told the theft was simply a "social reality of Hastings".

Thank goodness the police aren't as accepting of the status quo.

That's why Friday's news of a massive 19 arrests and $100,000 worth of stolen items recovered, was welcome news for everyone bar those appearing in the dock.

I assume my bike, missing now for almost a decade, wasn't among the stash. Though I do wonder where it is and who's riding it.

Whoever now calls her their own, reminds me of the demographic Oscar Wilde spoke of when he said there are those who know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.