Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Sign of Times


A couple posts ago I talked about my comfort spots and right now I'm not in one of those. Yesterday, my husband an I decided to wash our truck out front. I took our wiener dog outdoors with us to basque in the sun while we slaved away washing big black beast. I was conscious to shut the back door when I went out, because the bird was on top of her cage and didn't want a neighborhood cat to wander in while we weren't in the house.
Anyways, we had the front door open with screen shut and we were out there about 30 minutes.
All of a sudden a neighborhood kid who we adore comes walking out from our side gate that comes from our backyard says, "you guys I just saw someone jumping over your wall from the alley and he was doing something with the bushes that didn't look right." He asked the kid what he was doing and he said" trying to find a ball my brother kicked over the fence". Neighborhood kid felt it was a BS and didn't recognize the kid from around here. So we figured that he was probably trying to steal our bikes we had on the patio. So hubby jumps on his bike for a quick look around the area, with no sighting.
Things settle for a while, hubby finishes putting away buckets and towels and I cook dinner. We eat dinner and then I get ready to go to my night class. Just starting to go out the front door and go to pick up my purse from the coffee table and notice that my purse is lighter than normal. My first thought was, oh it must have dropped out in the car when I got home earlier. 2 seconds after that thought hubby and I looked at each other and said," oh my god, that kid". Hubby ran back to the alley and looked in the bushes and there was one of my little business card holders still full of the usual business cards, grocery store cards and misc. stuff.  Wallet with cowboy pinup girl on it (credit cards & drivers license).......GONE!!
We called the police they took down ours and neighbor boys info. and fingerprinted our back door. (CSI .... kinda cool.) I cancelled credit cards, reported driver's license stolen. I only had a buck or two in cash and some change. They all looked the alley up and down with nothing to be found.
It's so freaky to know someone was in your house who didn't belong. It's not just freaky, but scary. We both feel somewhat violated. I don't want to have to lock things up when I'm around my own house, or feel like I have to watch over my shoulder all the time. I'm going to have to find a happy medium, so I don't drive myself crazy.


Wow!! Your not going to believe this. My doorbell just rung and one of my neighbors on the next street over just handed me my wallet. They found it in their backyard under their orange tree which is off the same alley we are on. The credit cards and driver's license were still in it. The buck and change were the only thing missing. He risked a breaking and entering charge for $3.00 at the most. What the fuck!!


12 comments:

Richard said...

You can't keep doors unlocked in any neighborhood.rich or poor.
It was most likely a very young teen. that broke in.

La Roo said...

Actually Richard, it was around a 13-14 yr old. Neighbor boy said.
I'm still out of sorts today. :/

Mike said...

Wow, We had something similar only it was our car and a neighbor, who was working on his roof saw the whole thing and chased the kids away. They got my wifes wallet, a few days later some guy a block aways called and said he found all of her cards and personal infor scattered in his back yard. Only ended up missing $5. At least you are safe, possesions can always be replaced...

C said...

hi laroo... long time no talk.
can i ask ya something personal? hope not to hurt your feelings, too, cuz i would never.
ok, is that you standing in the door way? are you able to stand, hon,? i didnt know and i was just wondring what you can still do. also, when did you first get discover you had ms?
kids are mean and very stupid. i am glad he didnt hurt anyone, or any pets... the lil bastard....
hope all is warm and well...4 U.

C

La Roo said...

C,
I don't mind you asking at all. Yes that is me standing in the doorway. And I don't have MS I have MD (Muscular Dystrophy) Everybody thinks MS even my docs, so don't worry. We knew I had something since I was about 10 because of my clumsiness and not being able to run like the rest of the kids. They chaulked it up as result of the scoliosis that I had. (Yes, I did have the rod put in my back). I knew there was something else. Around 20 they finally diagnosed me with a form of MD called Friedreichs Ataxia. Fortunately for me my version of it is not severe like most. I have a prognosis of a long heathly life. I can stand but need to hold on, and I can walk a bit using crutches. My balance is for shit, and I have fallen and hurt myself too many times. WhaaLaa the trusty wheelchair. Otherwise I can pretty much do everything everybody else can.
You're right kids are stupid.

Mike,
wow you did have the same kind of thing happen. Yeah, I'm just glad nobody got hurt and you're right possesions can be replaced. Thanks for your concern.

Bob said...

Don't you just love the feeling of being violated when someone rips you off. Nothing like it. Little bastards. Oh, to catch a little (or big) mother fucker in the act of ripping me off. . . there would be no tomorrow for them!

C said...

thanks laroo. you are so sweet. i am so glad to hear that you can stand! for slow dancing... and fun stuff like that.

i have never seen anyone in a wheel chair that handles it quite like you. i think your attitude is fantastic.

C

C said...

ohhhhhh you're one of jerry's kids! wow i have donated to them before.

C

La Roo said...

C,
Yep, I'm a Jerry's kid and they have paid for a new wheelchair a couple times for me. So they do what they say. I think all in all it's a pretty stand up organization.
oh I can do more than slow dance. ;0
Thanks for the kudos, it' taken awhile to get where I'm at. I don't want the disease to define me, I want to define me.
Have a good one.

asfjh said...

ooh noo. i know the feeling, when i lived in england i lived on the ground floor, and was broken into twice in one year.

they stole my video camera, photo camera, playstation 2, stereo.. just about everything that had any value. and £ 200. i had my bag stolen a couple of times in pubs that year too - and i probably lost more money that way - and visa cards and mobiles and what not, but it still didn't feel as bad as when they broke into my flat.

the worst thing wasn't all the things that disappeared - even if i had no money left to replace them. the worst thing about it was to never feel safe again in my own flat. i kept having a feeling that someone could walk in the door at any time. i didn't feel safe when falling asleep. it was like it was a public area. also, i hated the idea of someone going through my stuff. it was, like you said, a feeling of being violated.

it didn't help that the video camera contained some.. uhh.. personal footage.

it was a strange experience for me, as where i come from in the norwegian countryside, people go to work leaving their house unlocked. they leave the car in front of the house with the keys in overnight - every night. i think that is the way things should be. theft is petty and pathetic.

Bear / Oso said...

Something like that happened to me some years ago, acutually twice, someone broke into my house and stole a lot of stuff, six months appart.

The feeling of being violated, of someone intruding into your private space is very strong, but for me the big thing was feeling totally impotent to do anything about it

Jake lara said...

So glad you got your wallet back, I've lost mine and had a quick heart attack before I but found it again in the house. I can't imagine what it's like to have someone creep in your house and take something like that. poor you.