Disclaimer: Don't own and never will.

AN: I was playing GTAV when this amusing little idea hit me.

Dear players of the Grand Theft Auto series, whoever you are,

We are the ordinary people and in particular, ordinary drivers of the many vehilcles found throughout the universe of Grand Theft Auto. We're the ones who drive around in the background, giving your computer-generated world the life that makes it feel real. In turn, we are generally happy at being allowed to exist at all. It is your money that makes our existence, our behaviour, even our voices possible. Without you and the company Rockstar of course, we simply wouldn't be here.

However, there is something that we, as a people, would like to ask you.

Would you please stop stealing our vehicles to get around whatever part of our great land that you wish to traverse?

We appreciate that the game is named after car theft. The game itself allows you the freedom to drive pretty much everywhere and indeed, we hope you enjoy the vast world that Rockstar has provided. And yes, I know that the police can get a bit…difficult about the various missions that you are required to finish as the player. We understand that the characters you play are not saints but rather career criminals and that all these people are pushed into situations where mobility is of the upmost importance. We understand that it can be dull walking halfway across a city or state to get to where you want or need to go.

But please, stop stealing our vehicles and use your own?

You might not be the best of drivers. The situations you find yourselves in can be hard, even destructive to the various vehicles you use. Some do not survive the experience while others require costly repairs. Sometimes the vehicles you are using are facing the wrong way, or are simply too far away from where you are to be comfortable. That however, does not mean that you should stop a passing car and steal it from one of us. Being pulled out of a car is not a pleasant experience. The characters you play are often violent and aggressive in their language and actions.

To make a bad situation worse, you the player are seldom able to return the very vehicle you stole without at least some damage. The residents of the world of Grand Theft Auto have our vehicles returned to us by the police often broken, crashed into lampposts, trees and even people. Bloodstains are not unheard of both inside and outside the vehicles, and that's assuming that they are returned at all. On more than one occasion, stolen vehicles remain stolen. Sometimes they're repainted in various colours, other times they are destroyed. Sometimes you leave them parked in your garage to become a part of your collection and sometimes you leave them for other people to drive away.

We need our cars as well. Some of us need our cars to get to and from work. Some of us need to pick up vital medical supplies, pills and the like from our pharmacist. Some of us are out to offer lifts to young entrepreneurial ladies. For some of us, our cars are a vital part of our work, especially cab drivers. A cab driver has to buy a new car when theirs is stolen, while fire departments do not have an unlimited amount of funds. Even hospitals can ill afford to keep losing ambulances at the rate you steal them and the costs divert funds away from often vital medical treatment or life saving equipment.

And so we write this letter to you, the players of Grand Theft Auto with our plea.

Yours sincerely,

The Citizens of the world of Grand Theft Auto.

Postscript: This letter was lost when the car carrying it was stolen and destroyed by a player in the game.