Society utterly confuses me

If you've ever read some of my posts you probably know that I'm fairly calm and level headed. While I'm still those things I am shocked, dumbfounded, and utterly frustrated with people.

For some background information, I live in a pretty high crime area. On average you've got about a 1 in 10 chance of being the victim of a break in every year in this town. There's literally not a month that goes by where someone I know hasn't had their home or car broken into. I had been out of town for the past 10 days or so and just got home today and I won the break in lottery. I pulled into my driveway and my heart sunk as I noticed my back door had been bashed in.

Whoever the thieves were, they clearly knew they had a lot of time. Not only were the obvious items taken like my computer and other electronics, but less obvious stuff was taken as well. They took about half my clothes (why they didn't take the other half, I have no idea), the pictures on the walls, and even cheap stuff. Everything from the silverware and plates to the toilet paper was stolen. In addition to taking my stuff, they took a checkbook and cashed out my bank account with it.

The police took a report of course, but told me that there's basically nothing they can do, which I had already known. Once things are stolen they're pretty much impossible to recover.

I'm not one who gets overly attached to things... oddly enough I'm not all that bothered by my stuff being stolen, though I obviously wish it didn't happen. Instead I'm just frustrated, and I'm not sure who it's with. Is it the criminals who are so desperate they even took a half used bar of soap from my shower or is it the police who are supposed to protect me but can't actually do anything?

Maybe I'm being too composed for what just happened, I don't know. But I do know I'm in utter bewilderment at the moment, or perhaps it's just shock. Literally everything aside from my car and the handful of things I was traveling with was just stolen and the thoughts going through my head aren't about the fact that with this I'm basically starting my life over again from step 1, or about how they could easily come back and I have no way to defend myself like I always thought I would be thinking about in this situation. Instead all I can think about is how bad off does society need to be for people to steal such petty items alongside the good ones, and why do we always excuse so much behavior from the police on the basis that we'll be glad they're there when we need them... yet when we could actually use them, there's nothing they can do?

I'm sorry I'm in complete denial I live day to day with these people.. I am not a terrorist btw lol.. I hate what we have become.. HATE! with that said I'mma go to bed after picking some giant tomatoes, go catch somw pokemon i heard they are hot this time of year.. barf

1. I am really, really sorry to hear about that, and I hope you have insurance for that to help you replace some of what you just lost.

2. This is what the 2nd Amendment folks talk about. Although in this case, as you were gone, it wouldn't have helped and in all likelihood, your gun or guns would now be on the street with the rest of your stuff.

3. As much as the police ARE there to protect and serve, they can't be everywhere and the odds they would prevent a theft in progress if pretty low and as high as violent crime rates are, the odds that they are going to find out who robbed you are low. Finding out who is doing the raping, assaulting, and murdering is a higher priority as much as that sucks.

4. We don't excuse bad behavior from cops. We want the bad cops gone as much as anyone else. What we don't like is excusing bad behavior in the people in favor of blaming cops because some cops are bad.

a reply to: Aazadan

It's a sign. Move away. Seriously ... It will get worse. These animals have all day long to case your place and take advantage. You can't win. Your taxes keep them in cash, and housing, and basic subsistence ... your possessions will be sold for the stuff they want.

I'm sorry you lost your property, but I'm glad you weren't there to get harmed when it happened.

originally posted by: Aazadan
They took about half my clothes (why they didn't take the other half, I have no idea)

I guess parachute pants arnt as fashionable as you thought.



On a serious note sorry that happened to you, it's a shame nothing can be done about it. None of your neighbors saw anything? Something makes me think the people knew you were not going to be there.

originally posted by: ketsuko
1. I am really, really sorry to hear about that, and I hope you have insurance for that to help you replace some of what you just lost.

Naa, no insurance, insurance is for stuff worth keeping and I'm just a broke student. Most of my valuable stuff like my laptop I use for school I had with me, basically because I always figure the risk is high enough in this town that when I travel I want to limit it somewhat. The stuff that I wish wasn't taken was for sentimental reasons, merely replacing it isn't the same.

2. This is what the 2nd Amendment folks talk about. Although in this case, as you were gone, it wouldn't have helped and in all likelihood, your gun or guns would now be on the street with the rest of your stuff.

I've actually gone over this scenario a lot in my head in the past couple hours. Did I dodge a bullet by not being home when they broke in, or if I had been home would I have been a victim of an armed home invasion instead? I've contemplated getting a gun in the past, but always decided against it because I'm not really a fan of them (though I have no problem with people owning them either). Most of the places I travel to ban guns on the premises anyways so I would basically just have the gun for home defense which means it's just another thing to have stolen.

3. As much as the police ARE there to protect and serve, they can't be everywhere and the odds they would prevent a theft in progress if pretty low and as high as violent crime rates are, the odds that they are going to find out who robbed you are low. Finding out who is doing the raping, assaulting, and murdering is a higher priority as much as that sucks.

By protect I mean, have some form of investigation to get my stuff back, maybe fingerprint some of the stuff in my apartment that I know they handled. I don't expect them to stop a robbery in progress. The entire process after I called them was them taking a report over the phone, and then them telling me I can stop in to pick up my report in a couple days. Oh, and that if I see some of my stuff in a pawn shop, to call them and they'll get it back if I can prove it was mine.

originally posted by: Zerodoublehero
On a serious note sorry that happened to you, it's a shame nothing can be done about it. None of your neighbors saw anything? Something makes me think the people knew you were not going to be there.

There's a 90% chance it was my neighbors that did it, they're a bunch of hoodlums.

a reply to: Snarl

agreed, the government "pays" these people to sit on their ass all day and plan their crimes, they have more free time than you do, move out and let some other poor sap live there and deal with the problems.

originally posted by: Tardacus
agreed, the government "pays" these people to sit on their ass all day and plan their crimes, they have more free time than you do, move out and let some other poor sap live there and deal with the problems.

I can't. The town I live in is a crap hole but it has a very good university for my major (we're talking, top 10 in the world). Moving out before I'm done simply isn't an option.

I don't get it, really... I don't. Most poor people are wealthy compared to me, and I feel no compulsion to break into another persons home and take their stuff. What could ever possess a person to get so desperate that they break into another persons home and steal their toilet paper? I can understand what's going through their head with the electronics they took, but to take 2 rolls of TP? I just don't get it.

I lived in Vancouver BC in the late 80's for 2 years before coming back to the states, and while I lived there we were burglarized and the thieves stole everything, clothes, and they took cheese from the refrigerator and spices and weird things like that. And we never could find anyone that heard or noticed anything so we broke the lease and left Canada for good. If I would have been able to find them myself, I would have pulled an "ISIS" on them.



There's almost no worse feeling than to be broken into and have your place trashed and everything ripped off. (Including the cheese from the fridge) and now that I see previous post, I remember they also took bleach and cleaners, and toilet paper and paper towels and stuff. They broke a window to get in and no one even heard them or called the police, and it was a fairly big complex.

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowedAnd we never could find anyone that heard or noticed anything so we broke the lease and left Canada for good. If I would have been able to find them myself, I would have pulled an "ISIS" on them.

There's almost no worse feeling than to be broken into and have your place trashed and everything ripped off.

I can understand that, but my line of thinking is somewhat different. I've pretty much fully bought into some cross between being a minimalist and the Buddhist concept of the Second Noble Truth. Between the two, I have very little desire for stuff. Aside from my desktop PC, the only two things I actually miss out of what was taken was a really cool leather jacket I was recently given as a gift (and that I never even had a chance to wear due to the heat), and another jacket I've had for 20 years now, that had just gotten enough character worn into it to be cool. And that's out of sentiment/history rather than the actual item.

Other than that it's just the issue of feeling safe in your home, but I feel just as safe as any other night which is to say very little. I think I have a weird perspective on this though because of where I live. Most people, at least in the US feel somewhat secure in their homes.

I guess I just don't understand the thief mentality. I've known a lot of people in life that I'm pretty sure supported themselves with petty thievery, but it's just not a perspective I can really grasp I suppose. All I really feel is pity for people who are stealing items as trivial as surge protectors and pizza pans.

a reply to: Aazadan

Can your landlord put on a more secure door? You should also invest in inexpensive deterrents. Fake Security system stickers. Beware of dog sign. There are also small and inexpensive window and door alarms.

Like this small window and door alarms

They can be found pretty much anywhere.

I would hate for this to happen to you again. I would be worse if you were at home at the time.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: Aazadan

Can your landlord put on a more secure door? You should also invest in inexpensive deterrents. Fake Security system stickers. Beware of dog sign. There are also small and inexpensive window and door alarms.

Like this small window and door alarms

They can be found pretty much anywhere.

I would hate for this to happen to you again. I would be worse if you were at home at the time.

My landlord is the type that at one point told me if I want a fire extinguisher for the apartment (something else that got stolen btw) I would have to provide it myself since he legally doesn't have to provide one. He's not a bad person, but he's very much the type that won't do more than the absolute minimum necessary. A more secure door goes beyond the minimum. Honestly, it was a pretty typical door. Doors just aren't very effective when they're bashed in. Deadbolts can only do so much.

Dog signs don't quite work with the way my duplex is set up. Dogs themselves are pretty popular deterrents in the area, but my landlord doesn't allow pets so that's not an option (not that it would have worked in this case since the dog would have been traveling with me).

The door alarms are a good idea. I'm on the second floor so I don't actually need window alarms. I don't think door alarms would act as much of a deterrent but I would probably sleep better with them since they could wake me up if something were to happen at night.

a reply to: NoCorruptionAllowed

My truck got broke into. I knew the guys who did it would pawn what the took. When my stuff showed up ... I vented a Lot of hostility on the folks in the pawn shop. They should'a just told me who it was when I asked instead of acting like they were actors in a TV drama.

originally posted by: Snarl
My truck got broke into. I knew the guys who did it would pawn what the took. When my stuff showed up ... I vented a Lot of hostility on the folks in the pawn shop. They should'a just told me who it was when I asked instead of acting like they were actors in a TV drama.

Pawn shops are not reputable places of business. The people who work in them know damn well that 90% of what they're buying is stolen. It's just a legal way to work as a fence.

a reply to: reldra
Wow, that pretty much sucks. The only time I ever had a break in all they took was a PS2 & games. That was fine with me, considering the couple of $3,000 guitars I have that weren't touched.

Not much you can do. People are just horrible creatures. We're just wired that way. We try to rise above what we are, but seriously. Just look at humor. The vast (and I do mean vast) majority of what we laugh at is someone else's misfortune, or even tragedy.

What can we expect out of such a species?

a reply to: Aazadan

I let the whole thing run for a while before the local cops got involved. They shut the pawn shop down real quick when they found out what happened. Just confiscated everything that they had. A lotta heads got busted ... and that was fine with me.

originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: Aazadan

I let the whole thing run for a while before the local cops got involved. They shut the pawn shop down real quick when they found out what happened. Just confiscated everything that they had. A lotta heads got busted ... and that was fine with me.

I have a handful of things that are very identifiable. With any luck, one of those things shows up in a shop, and that creates some ability to investigate into who was selling it. Most likely though, I expect everything that's gone to remain gone.

a reply to: Aazadan

If you're even gonna look ... you better have a plan for what happens next. Be deliberate.

My house was robbed once. Apparently they had scoped us out fairly well ahead of time. They knew they had all day. The typical description is, "They took everything that wasn't nailed down." In our case that wasn't even true. They pulled up the carpet and took it! Dishes, silverware, appliances, clothes, jewelry, art, every stick of furniture except the beds for some reason, clocks, linens, you name it. It was such a horrible feeling. The police officer who took the report asked if we owned a gun. We said no. He said, "Get one. If you are home and someone breaks in, shoot them and shoot to kill. If they are armed, no problem. If not, take the biggest meanest nastiest looking butcher knife you have, wrap his hand around it, wait until you are sure he is dead, then call the police."

In a way we were pretty lucky. They never found the safe so the really valuable stuff was ok. Also, they never bothered to look to see what all the keys on the pegboard were for. At the time, we had nearly 70 genuine classic cars in four garages on the property. In addition to my muscle cars and our daily drivers, we had dozens of 'real' classics. 1920's and 1930's Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, Packard, LaSalle, Cord, Deusenberg, Franklin, Mercer, and so on. Some truly stunning automobiles. Four of our cars were in the movie The Godfather. Those kind of cars. And every single one was fine. Not a fingerprint on any of them. And we would have noticed a single finger print. Believe me. I spent half my life putting up velvet ropes around these things and making sure no one touched them.

The insurance payed for just about everything and we eventually got over it. But it wasn't fun by any stretch of the imagination. For months after that I jumped at the slightest sound. Shadows looked like people. Sleep was something for other people to enjoy. In short, we didn't feel safe in our own home. That is no way to live. Been there - done that. Never again.

a reply to: Aazadan

I think the way they justify it to themselves is, like animals, that they do not believe in another's right to property over their own right to said property, especially unprotected property.

To break that down for you, I think what it stems from is from doing without things you desire (even if you have a lot of other things). That is, by seeing that things are separate from yourself (because you do not have them), you will be less likely to believe that property is apart of a person - you will be less likely to believe that a thing belongs to, or is coupled to, another person. If things are separate of people, they are not apart of each other, and so do not belong together (there is no sense of belongs to - there is no right of belonging) and therefor they have just as much right to it as you do, by the right of them wanting it. Easier said: property is something we have because we want and take it and thus have it - not because it belongs to you.

Even in the most moral of people, the rights to other lifeforms property kind of plays out across a spectrum, like in the way we feel we have the right to take fruit from a trees seed when the fruit was almost surely meant to be food for the seed, or in the way that we all eat other plants and animals, or take over habitats, etc.