Theft at the bar mitzvah

Last Saturday night Drew and I went to a bar mitzvah.  The young man's mother is Drew's co-worker and friend.  The service was at the synagogue where the family has its membership.  The party was at another synagogue, a 20 minute drive away.

The ceremony was beautiful.  The party, like most Long Island bar and bat mitzvahs, was a bit over the top - black tie invited, cocktail hour with open bar followed by a sit-down dinner.

I'd say there were about 100 kids and 100 adults. The adults had table assignments (We sat with the "work friends") and the kids had a separate lounge area and a more kid-friendly menu.

I didn't know a soul except Drew, and a party with loud music makes conversation difficult.  But I had a great time.  Drew and I got to dance a bit -- the DJ made sure to play music for the older crowd.

I will never forget Drew singing along to "Mac the Knife".  The MC put his mike in front of Drew and let him go . . . I hope the videographer got it on tape, our hosts will get a laugh out of that.

I have to say, though, that this group of "work friends" are party poopers -- they all left at least an hour before the party ended.

Overall a fun party.

Now for the "theft" part.

During the party the DJ, MC and their assistants give out lots of little tchotckes.  You know, glow sticks, sunglasses, mardi gras type beads.  Fun, inexpensive swag.  This DJ brought some goofy wool hats, the kind that are very popular this winter.  Drew kept hoping he'd get a hat.  Sure enough, the MC threw one at him.

He left the hat at our table when we got up to dance.  By then we were the only couple left at our table.  When we came back, the hat was gone.

We figured someone thought the hat had been left behind when the table's occupants went home.

Later, just before we left, we saw an older gentleman with about six of those hats.  We figured that he must have been the one who tok Drew's hat.  Looked like he was collecting swag for his grandchildren.

Drew didn't say anything at the party.

But at work yesterday . . .the hostess said that the guy was a friend of her parents.  He took whatever he could lay his hands on . . .went up to the kids' lounge area and took stuff off their chairs while they were on the dance floor.

And she was very upset, because he took more than just the DJ tchotckes.

One of the features of a Long Island bar/bat mitzvah is the party favor that the kids get -- usually a hat, or a t shirt or some other article of clothing that are imprinted with the date and the phrase "so-and-so's bar (or bat) mitzvah". You're supposed to wear the garment to school the following Monday.  At Saturday's bar mitzvah, the kids all got sweatpants.

Yes. You guessed it.  Mr. Sticky Fingers swiped a few pair of sweatpants.