We had the Police around yesterday, no not the band, but the actual Police who came to talk about the burglary. It was nice to have a friendly chat about it with someone who has obviously more experience in this type of thing, and he reassured us on quite a few things.
It looks like, based on similar crimes in the area, that generally the burglars just want cash, and didn?t venture any further into the house once they?d got the handbag. Obviously if there were other things around in plain site then they would?ve gone too, but there is no evidence of that, and nothing else has been touched or moved.
I?m taking this as a real eye opener to be more careful, and be thankful that nothing worse happened. Sometimes these little things are almost a Godsend and make you buck up your ideas. I made a comparrison to these event to the time I got could speeding in my car. They may seem unrelated, but in 2002 I used to drive very fast of the motorway, around 90mph all the time, and I?d been doing that for years and was pretty laid-back, but in July 2002 I was driving down to Chichester and got stopped by two Police Patrol bikes, and was clocked doing 94mph. I didn?t even realise I was going that fast, but luckily I only got 3 points on my licence and a £60 fine, when I could?ve in fact ended up in court, or worse, not got caught, and carried on driving fast and eventually ending up in an accident.
I still don?t always stick to the speed limit on motorways, but won?t top 80mph anymore, which I think is quite sensible, and so I look back and although I wish I hadn?t got the points or fine, I can be grateful that I got a little warning to slow down. In this same way I can use this burglary as an indicator that I should perhaps be a little less naive when it comes to home security, and be glad that nothing worse happened.
Our neighbours were burgled a while back, when they were away, and nothing at all pinched, not even available cheque books and credit cards. Clearly for a certain level of thief cash is king, and nothing else gets them their next fix quickly enough.
Apart from getting over the sense of invasion etc, the simplest response is often the most effective: not to go survivalist with guns and barbed wire, but just to explore the concept of defensible space ? proper locks, good garden gate, prickly bushes, wobbly trellis fencing (with prickly plants), bright lights, etc etc. And observant neighbours. Nasty memory but hopefully not to be repeated?
It is strange how things like this can be an eye opener isn?t it. I am glad to hear, though, that it appears as though nothing else has been taken as like you said, it could have been much worse.
I saw (on the other entry) that you had the locks changed are getting a security alarm fitted, which is a sensible idea and should put your mind at rest.
I had a similar thing happen once at my apartment. Someone stole the things that were sitting on the table sitting just inside my door, and I never noticed until the next time I went to use my sunglasses, which had been sitting on that table. It?s an odd feeling. Now I never leave my door unlocked, and I am also worried about even leaving my window open when I?m not around.
Good for you for looking for the positive in a shitty experience like this. And don?t forget to put that baseball bat under your bed? I recommend aluminium for a nice easy pick-up and a smooth bludgeoning arc through the air ? right onto the base of the skull just behind the ear?
Burglars piss me off