Monday, April 23, 2007

Break In

My place got broken into last night.

Well, my garage, but still it's part of my place. Sometime between 8:30 and 10 pm. Weirdest feeling rolling up in your driveway and seeing the door wide open. Knowing someone has been in your place and stuff. Someone you don't know... or maybe.

I don't know or think anything valuable was stolen... I tended to use it more as storage for old videotape movies, books, hard copies of manuscripts, and albums/cassettes from the old days. Tons of albums strewn all over the floor.

The cops were nonchalant. Go figure. You'd think in a part of town where "nothing happens," that this type of incident would matter. Asked me, "what would you like to see done." I'm like, "Fingerprint. Take a report. Give me a copy. Anything besides shine your flashlight in the garage."

I parked on the street last night. Hardly got sleep. Thought I heard noises, footsteps on my walkway. Unnecessary paranoia. Needed a sleeping pill. Brought "valuables" with me to work. Just in case. Not that material goods are more valuable than life. Just important documents, papers, credit cards, keys.

Still... I see why grandparents and the elders always have that paranoia about their stuff... locking the house, double-checking windows, not wanting to be away too long from the house.

The ironic part.

During the 8:30 to 10 pm time I was being burglared, I was talking/counseling a friend who is dating/messing around with someone who is "this close" to trouble and a criminal life... warrants, possessiveness/jealousy, regular drinking and driving. He thinks it's cute, that the man will change. But I know crazy/trouble/intensity, and that this flirtation with danger is a formula for disaster.

I just hope something breaks in and that he doesn't end up losing more than a few days he could be with someone else. I hope I don't have to deal with any other break ins of this sort too.

No one deserves to have their trust or space violated.
fs

3 comments:

dancehard said...

ahh Fred! Sorry to hear about the break in. That SUCKS! I hope nothing seriously valuable was taken. Did the cops actually take prints? If so, hopefully they can at least figure out what fool is on the loose and keep him from infiltrating another person's shit...

Stealing...that burns me up for real. The audacity of someone to take from you, when you've worked hard for yours! BOOOOOO!!!!

Hope the rest of your week is better. We should hang out soon. Up for lunch Sunday?

People in the Sun said...

That was probably my biggest fear. As a kid, I used to have recurring nightmares about the house being broken into by a substitute teacher. Her son was my friend, and I never told him his mother broke into my parents' house on a nightly basis.

I have Pit Bulls now, so I'm not scared of that anymore (although the most they'll do is kiss the burglar to death).

Anonymous said...

my place was broken into when i lived in chicago. i know that creepy feeling of trying to get back to normal or feeling safe again. i couldn't sleep for like a month. the police didn't do anything but took a report. i made my landlord get one of those deadbolt doors, it cost me extra, but it did make me feel safer because my previous door was too easy to kick in. yet, i knew the person who broke into my place, or at least i had some idea. it was some trick i tried to be nice to, he didn't do it until months later but from the second i met him i knew he was shady. i just say be careful who you let in your house, make sure you have good protection, solid doors, burgalar bars or whatever. also, home insurance helps.