Little League Intrigue

I didn't do it! And that was the truth. One event that still stands out today, is the time I was implicated in an incident involving stealing of money from my son's Little League organization. I was a trusting patsy and I got burned big time.

When my son was growing up, he lived and breathed baseball. It was his life's blood, so every year come spring he would sign up for Little League. As a parent, I wanted to support him, so I worked as a volunteer. One year I drove the snack truck. This was the year when money was stolen out of the truck during a game.

I was responsible for driving, restocking and generally maintaining the snack truck. However, I was one of a group of mothers who took turns selling treats to the crowds during the games. Once a game was over I would meet one of the mom's and give her the bag of cash receipts. I had stated at the beginning that I did not want to be responsible for keeping the money. One evening after a game, the mom that usually took the bag had something else to do, so I kept it overnight and brought it with me to the ballpark the next evening. The bag contained a mix of cash, amounting to approximately $70.00 and three checks. There was a safe place in the truck where we kept the receipt bag or so we thought. It was out of sight and out of reach of anyone outside of the truck.

Fortunately for me, the mom who normally handled the money was there and I handed her the bag. She took a look inside to see what was in there, but asked me to keep it until the end of the night and then she would pick up all the money at one time. I said fine and put the bag away.

That particular night we were short of help for a shift in the truck, so we asked if anyone would like to volunteer. Two women, we both assumed were moms of some of the players, volunteered. I got them set up and then I left to go to my son's game on another field as I always did. Once his game was over he and I went back to the truck to close up.

The two women gave me the receipts for that shift and then one of them said that they had looked in the receipt bag and decided to count the money for us, which should have set off a red flag for me. They didn't say how much was in the bag, just that they had taken it upon themselves to count the previous night's receipts. After they left, I opened the bag to put the current receipts in and it was empty. I was horrified! Still, I never questioned the honesty of these women. I thought everyone felt as I did, that we were there to help the league raise money for equipment.

I informed the other mom and she was as confused as I was. We didn't see how anyone would have had access to that bag unless they were actually in the truck ... this should have rung a big giant bell for both of us.

Once the word was out that the money had been stolen, the two women went to work villainizing me. When I would come to set the truck up they were on me like a couple of Jackals. They never directly accused me, but they certainly implied it strongly enough, making sure that they said very loudly that I was the last person to see the money. It was the most uncomfortable situation I have ever been in. I knew I had not taken the money and I hoped the women in my group didn't think I took it either. I think at first they may have thought I was guilty because the two women were so adamant. So I decided to call a meeting of our group one evening before a game and confront the situation head-on. I said the only way I would leave was if everyone in our group wanted me to. I told them I was taught that if you are not guilty of something then you don't run away. I also said that it was important to me to set this example for my children. The group said that they believed me and did not want me to quit. In truth, it would have been much easier to just quit, because I found it very difficult to go to that field every night knowing I would have to face accusations. These women were relentless. Every time I showed up they were there. They were making it their mission to get me to quit. To them, this would prove to all concerned that I was guilty.

One evening they were there, as usual, and somehow the contents of the bag were mentioned. They claimed that there was only cash in the bag and I told them there had also been three checks given to us. They were adamant that there had been no checks only cash and they called me a liar. However, what they didn't know was that another mom had seen the checks when she looked in the bag. She backed me up on this and from that point on those women did not come near me again. They knew that they had been found out and that we could have gone to the league president and had them and their kids kicked out of the league. As it was, we just let it go and no one was pursued for the incident. I never saw these women again, which was fine with me.

I took my son aside and told him what had happened just in case he was confronted by anyone, but he was not in the same division, so nothing was ever said to him. I told him how I handled it and that I had learned a valuable lesson from the experience. First, not to be so trusting where money is concerned. Had I opened the bag while the women were still there, they would have had some explaining to do. I also found that standing my ground was the right thing to do. I think my continuing to come back to the field and do my job eventually convinced people that I was telling the truth. In this case, actions spoke louder than words.

I do know in the end that the people who mattered believed me and that was all that counted.