most garages say they arent responsible for valuables left in the car. i have no idea about the windshield wipers. i have never had my wipers messed with. yours might be far superior to mine. if they are valuable, and you dont want them stolen, then yes, remove them. if i park at a garage, im not paying for security, im paying for a place to leave my car. if i get security, good, im happy. if i dont, im grumpy, and then i have to remind myself, "homey, you dont really OWN things. they can all be taken away. forget OWN and instead use the word HAVE." that usually settles me down, then i report the theft.

when you leave your car in strange places, or out of your sight, you run the risk of damage or theft. either you guard your car with great zeal, or you take a big picture view, and realize its just a car, or just five bucks in change, or whatever.

the point being, when you leave your car unattended, you shouldnt expect it to be there when you get back. its not a right, and the parking company doesnt guarrantee it will be there. where i park, i get these stubs with 200 word disclaimers excusing the garage from everything ranging from scratches to the really bad haircut i have. it makes a microsoft software license look like legal swiss cheese.

also, would you leave a five dollar bill on the seat, and be surprised if it got swiped? a ten? leaving money around is always goofy.

you still havent told us how you handled the theft of your five dollars. did you report it to the hotel or the police? have you considered that the same valet or thief stole $4.53 from a car the day before, and *that* guy didnt report it either? so the hotel does nothing, the police don't know about it. i bet the next day the thief got another couple of bucks. you were just in the middle of those two.

i want to hear what you did about it.

just so you dont get the idea that i think im perfect, i have been ripped off, and not reported it before, and i was a grumpy dude for a while, and b!tched to anyone who would listen. it didnt help me get my stuff back. in fact, reporting it almost never gets your stuff back. the hope is that it minimizes future hassles for others. so if enough people do it, someday maybe you benefit. my advice is to forget the concept of ownership, at least for small things like coins. its a good first step.