So, I was robbed this week, out of my car sitting in my driveway while I slept.
1 broken window ($300), 2 laptops ($2000), 1 ipod ($250) and roughly $500 of equipment.
Calling the police was useless as they didn’t even come to my house which doesn’t provide much confidence in my local police department. The policeman on the phone wasn’t very helpful either and his lack of concern was clearly present. Not that I was wanting him to be all mushy however I would have felt better if I didn’t call.
Instead of being (or feeling) like the victim, questions like “why would you leave that in your car” lead me to believe that if you cant pinpoint the culprit and attach blame to them then naturally the blame falls to the victim as if I was “asking for it.”
Calling my insurance was a hassle as well. Firstly, I couldn’t get a hold of my adjuster. I called at 8:30am, 10:30, 11:00, 12:30pm and finally at 4pm I was called back. $250 for my car deductible (to get a $300 window replaced) followed up by a $1000 house deductible to replace $2500 of equipment which, once they had finished applying appreciation to my laptops, being heckled for receipts, inquired against and then having my premiums go up it has me at a lose.
All of this to say I have lost my innocence. Not that I was naive enough to think that the system in which we live in isn’t a messed up one but I have never been violated like this before and the impression I got from everyone was “too bad for you, this shit happens.” And really, they are correct with this outlook. Sure, people think it’s a bummer I got robbed. The south end in which I live retains its title of “sketchy” which before my robbery I felt very different about. The culprit whom is now on my laptop doesn’t give a rat’s ass and if anything because of the authorities lack of action thinks he got a pretty good reward for a few mints labour.
The only person left holding the emotional baggage is me. I have had a shit week. Currently my outlook on things is messed, I drive down the road and everyone is suspect. I am quick to make judgment and my faith in society dropped. And I am miserable for it so after this weekend I am going to drop it.
I am going to pretend like the event did not occur because I am not going to let this person who stole my stuff win. I won’t be afraid and live negatively. Sure, I will be a bit more cautious which I can’t see as being a bad thing but business will be back to normal as of Monday. However, today is Friday so who ever that little bastard is who stole my shit…… Your gonna get yours!
#1 by Doug on April 16th, 2010
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For the record, I’m a staunch believer that the victim is always the victim. Sure we all need to take reasonable precautions, but even if we don’t, the person committing the crime is still 100% to blame. It truly disgusts me when people try to put fault on the victim of a crime, no matter what the circumstances.
#2 by Kyle on April 16th, 2010
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Getting robbed does suck.
About 2 years ago, 2 days before my birthday even, my apartment was robbed. Both my laptops, brand new hdtv, 360, all games and movies were stolen. Thankfully, my desktop had so many wires tangled up everywhere and wasn’t taken. The robbers came in through my bedroom window since i was on the main floor. Being in British Colombia and January, the ground is just mud, which was tracked through the bedroom and all over the clothes i had just pulled from the dryer before i left for work.
i was on an afternoon shift, 2-11pm, getting home around 12:30am. I opened the door and noticed my bedroom door was wide open. First thought was, “Damn cats, broke into my room again. Better not have pissed on the bed!”. Took a few steps inside and noticed the house was a lot colder than it should’ve been, stepped into the living room and flipped on the light and after probably 10 seconds it registered what had happened. I called the police, they sent an RCMP officer who go there about 20 minutes later. In that time i inspected the 2 boot tracks through the bedroom and the logs on the desktop indicating it lost network connection at about 7:30ish, from when they unplugged the power bar the router and modem were hooked up to.
The cop was pretty cool about everything, didn’t give any bullshit or false hope, straight up told me that the stuff is gone and it would be the first time he’s ever seen anyone get their stuff back. He did recognize i was running Linux, he ran Suse at home, so we had a good chat about that which made me feel better.
It took a few months before i felt safe coming home after that. It wasn’t even the stuff i had lost from it that upset me, though most of it hadn’t been paid off yet so i was still paying for things i didn’t have. It was the realization that i had no control over this, and any future occurrences.
You might take solace if you have a password on your laptops, the crook probably isn’t smart enough to get around it so he’s not going through your personal stuff. What’s lost is more than likely a few towns away in a pawn shop, and the robber is OD’ing off whatever drugs he got from hawking it.
#3 by Stacey hamilton on April 22nd, 2010
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It sucks that all that stuff was stolen and you’re stuck with the cost. Obviously, no one should be breaking into your car, especially when it’s in your own driveway. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that, if someone sees or believes there is something valuable in your car, it will be broken into, and unless there is a witness, there’s pretty much nothing the police can do after the fact. They file a report with your information in case the culprit is eventually caught in connection with other crimes, but that’s about it. While it isn’t your fault that someone broke in, and you ideally wouldn’t be stuck facing the consequences of it, realistically, you have to err on the side of caution if you want to avoid situations like this.
My roommate’s car was also broken into because she had the GPS arm attached to her windshield. Her car was actually two stories underground in a secure parking garage; but she knew that things get stolen from cars, that there were warnings from management not to leave valuables in sight because of break-ins in the area, and she took the risk, anyway. Now she’s out one GPS and a window.
You might want to monitor kijiji and craig’s list to see if your stuff starts appearing on there. There was a man who got his stolen stroller back that way: http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/article/780873... See More
#4 by Elizabeth Pede on April 22nd, 2010
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Loved your blog. Happy Monday!