Stolen uke found and returned

I HAVE A student who was taking ukulele lessons. The uke is all the rage right now and we have a ton of them in stock. They are easier to play because they only have four strings and the general idea is to strum. Last year I had to learn how to play because so many people were inquiring about lessons, and right now I have four uke students.

The student  bought a really nice Gretsch uke from us and was really enjoying it when it was stolen about a month ago. He was parked near 24th and Hampshire and forgot to lock the car, and the dirtball or dirtballs took his uke and other items from the vehicle.

Stolen ukulele found ... and returned!

Last Saturday, a woman was attending the Quincy Preserves home tours and was near 18th and Hampshire when she noticed trash sticking out of bushes. She pulled the trash away, and lo and behold, stuck down in the bushes was a Gretsch cloth ukulele bag, with the uke inside. Her daughter posted a message on Facebook and within 15 minutes, the instrument was claimed and eventually returned to the owner.

This tells us several things. One, there are good people in the world, and it's always a good idea to pick up trash if you see it. Two, the dirtball who stole the uke really is clueless - it's not a cheap instrument and obviously the thief had no idea what it was worth. It probably would have been pawned for $30 and then vanished forever.

We will never know who stole the instrument, but thankfully it's back in the hands of the owner. He and I have something in common - a few years ago I forgot to lock my car at my house and my gig bag was stolen, with several hundred dollars worth of stuff in it. I found various cables and items strewn about the alley later, but never recovered the bag, which was probably thrown in a dumpster somewhere.

It's safe to say we are both careful to lock our vehicles, and we are both still strumming ukuleles.