Yes, I do want to hear what’s in your mind. That’s why I’m asking you this question.

It should be pretty fucking clear that I'm skeptical that you actually took any significantly meaningful action before retreating into fantasy

And, again, I’m asking you, what is that action that you expect me to take? You refuse(d) to be clear on that. (Until this comment, I've addressed it later)

The logic is you had to buy a new lock because the old lock catastrophically failed to protect your bike.

I had to buy a new lock because the old lock was taken. When I buy I new bike, I buy a new lock. This isn’t hard to grasp. My new lock is quite different from the old one, easier to store, easier to carry around, collapsible, and rigid. My old U lock was clumsy. Even when I had my U lock, I had seen these other locks people were using that I liked a lot more.

I didn’t go from lowest quality to highest, but I did go with a significantly different form factor

Saying "I think we'd all be happier if we just all believed [token fairytale bullshit]" is still encouragement to believe in fairytale bullshit

I would 100% agree. I never said this though. I only spoke for myself and said that I choose to think this way. Do I actually believe my bike is being ridden by some down and out guy? Nope! The reality is I have no idea where my bike is. It could be scrapped for parts for all I know. I just choose to think this way, years down the line, because it literally costs nothing and does no harm I think this way. I have made no statement about what the rest of the world does or “we’d all be happier if…”

Why attribute these statements to me? You’re getting worked up about things that you put onto me, instead of about things I actually say or do.

Really depends on how your bike got stolen.

It was stolen out of my condo building. I spoke to all of my neighbors asking if they saw anything, looked at camera footage with the condo association, the locks to the exterior doors all got changed, and I posted about it on my community pages. I filed a police report and followed up with the cops. I got local social media pages posting about it as well. I spent a couple weeks trying to find anything about where it could be and got nothing. Trail is ice cold by now. I did all of this years ago.

None of this is “asshole” behavior by the way lol. My neighbors and friends were glad to help me out, just as I’d be glad to help out someone asking for assistance.

Is that what you were looking for? Did you assume I just did none of this because I choose to think that now, four years later, it might be ridden by someone who is happy with it?