Mistake #1 Was Yelling At the Guy

[SchwansManDan]

Saturday, May 27 ... I pulled a U-Haul trailer down to Bloomington to help my son move. (He graduated from IU this spring & is headed for Maryland in a few weeks for a gubbermint job.)

I backed the trailer into an empty spot in the parking lot, as close to the door of the apartments as I could get. I then unhitched and parked my pickup in another nearby spot so that I wasn't blocking traffic through the alley. The trailer door and my pickup were unlocked as we carried furniture & boxes out to the parking lot.

By 2:00 pm or so, we had emptied most of his stuff from the apartment & I stepped out for a cigarette. I saw a guy walking past, and then he disappeared on the other side of my truck. Now, my windows are tinted, so I couldn't see him well through the vehicle. I thought he was getting into the car parked next to me. And a few seconds after I heard a particular sound, it dawned on me that the sound was one of the doors on my truck opening.

And that's when I made the mistake of yelling "Hey! What the **** are you doing?!" as I started towards my truck, reaching for my S&W.

The next sounds I heard were 1. my truck door slamming shut and 2. the sound of sneakers beating a hasty retreat down the alley and out of sight, long before I could get to my truck.

I inspected the cab, and could only identify one item missing: a half pack of cigarettes that was tucked in a cubby hole in the dashboard. I decided not to bother the cops over $3 worth of Marlboros.

Did I make a Mistake #2 (or #3, or whatever), anywhere in there?

FWIW, I discovered another item missing today when I was pulling into the Kroger parking lot: a prescription bottle that was tucked into another dashboard cubby. The joke is on the thief, though: the bottle was filled with Eclipse gum. I hope the thieving little ******* chokes on a piece.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Mistake #1 was leaving the doors unlocked, and if the pill bottle is visible from outside that's an invitation for a broken window if the doors are locked.

Lesson learned, no one's hurt, you're not out anything that matters.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Mistake #1 was leaving the doors unlocked, and if the pill bottle is visible from outside that's an invitation for a broken window if the doors are locked.

Lesson learned, no one's hurt, you're not out anything that matters.

THIS.

NOT yelling first could have cost you more. (every bullet is attached to a lawyer)

You have the right idea. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. And lock your damned doors!

 

[SchwansManDan]

Pill bottle wasn't visible from the outside. You have to open the door & stick your head inside to see what's in the cubby holes.

Leaving the door unlucked is 1. part of 50+ years in small towns (even though I know not everyone in a small town is honest) and 2. convenient when you're carrying boxes out every couple of minutes. But, I get it.

At least he didn't steal my son's vodka assortment. The boy would have been heartbroken.

 

[JettaKnight]

THIS.

NOT yelling first could have cost you more. (every bullet is attached to a lawyer)

You have the right idea. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. And lock your damned doors!

QFT.

 

[SchwansManDan]

(every bullet is attached to a lawyer)

At first, I read this as "every bullet is embedded in a lawyer", but maybe it's just wishful thinking.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Sophomore year, at the end of one of the quarters, I had one more final to take in the afternoon. In the mean time, I decided to load my car up so after the test was over, I could basically jump in the car and head for home. During the numerous trips packing the car, I left the dorm door unlocked. In that short of time (of one of those trips), someone sneaked in and stole the calculator I needed for the exam. I was a broke college student and the last thing I needed was to buy a new calculator. I learned an important lesson...always lock your doors if you're not going to be around to watch your stuff.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Pill bottle wasn't visible from the outside. You have to open the door & stick your head inside to see what's in the cubby holes.

Leaving the door unlucked is 1. part of 50+ years in small towns (even though I know not everyone in a small town is honest) and 2. convenient when you're carrying boxes out every couple of minutes. But, I get it.

You did fine. You've already taken the appropriate lessons out of it, so consider it a good training opportunity.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

At home they're unlocked, keys in them. No, I don't live in town, or even close to a road. Anywhere else, lock 'em up. You wouldn't believe the stupid stuff people will risk a trip to the pokey or worse just to steal.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

[h=2]Mistake #1 Was Yelling At the Guy[/h]

Think about it. Do you really want to catch a Bloomington street person?

Mistake #1 was leaving the doors unlocked, and if the pill bottle is visible from outside that's an invitation for a broken window if the doors are locked.

Much wisdom here, BBIs took the reports, he knows the fact pattern as if it was a template (unlocked door and property owner wanders off). The human cockroaches are looking for something quick and easy. It happened to me. Wet, smelly gym clothing in a bag I left on the back seat of my SUV while I ducked into the office "quickly".

Lock your doors. Do stuff that shows someone is watching your gear. Practice mindset.

In fact, if you want to prevent this, go read Just 2 Seconds by Gavin de Becker and meditate on some mindfulness.

 

[AndersonIN]

What he said! "In fact, if you want to prevent this, go read Just 2 Seconds by Gavin de Becker and meditate on some mindfulness."

 

[SchwansManDan]

At home they're unlocked, keys in them. No, I don't live in town, or even close to a road. Anywhere else, lock 'em up. You wouldn't believe the stupid stuff people will risk a trip to the pokey or worse just to steal.

Outside my office in downtown Fort Wayne, that truck is locked up tighter than a Jew's purse. No offense to any Hebrews hanging out here.

 

[Coach]

Lock the doors private pyle.

Thieves are everywhere. It does not matter where you live. Things can happen 35 or 40 years ago when I was a young lad living on a dead end road in the middle of no where the old single neighbor man was home invaded by a fugitive. Stole some clothes the cash in his wallet and breakfast and held him at gun point for a while. **** can happen anywhere prepare for it.

 

[SchwansManDan]

Think about it. Do you really want to catch a Bloomington street person?

I dunno if it was a "street person", dope smokin' college kid (And yeah, I was a dope smokin' college kid 30+ years ago.), or my son's neighbor. All I know is some asshat stole stuff outta my truck. And it pisses me off, regardless of the small financial loss. It's the principle, ya know?

Probably worst I would have done is pull a gun out of my pocket, order the douchebag to the ground, and sit my fat ass on him until the cops arrived.

 

[STEEL CORE]

Glad you were there to protect your property, when I was young growing up in Detroit folks moving out would have someone sitting next to the moving truck with a Louisville slugger back then and a .12 ga now as they move in or out of anything, heck you call for a family member back up just to change a tire in da hood!

 

[cosermann]

Piling on about locking the doors. Really though, with car remotes now it takes no time or effort to lock or unlock. Doors are locked while you walk away. Doors are unlocked when you get to the car. Easy peasy.

With respect to yelling, I don't think that was a mistake at all. Command presence/verbal challenge isn't a bad place to start. Had the desired effect from my perspective.

... go read Just 2 Seconds by Gavin de Becker and meditate on some mindfulness.

A $42 paperback. Ouch.

 

[SchwansManDan]

Piling on about locking the doors. Really though, with car remotes now it takes no time or effort to lock or unlock. Doors are locked while you walk away. Doors are unlocked when you get to the car.

Unlocking the truck is not so easy when you are juggling a heavy box of fragile dishes. That's why I left it unlocked for a couple of minutes.

 

[stephen87]

Mistake #1 was buying, what looks to be Ford. #2 Bloomington. #3 leaving the truck unlocked. Glad to hear it wasn't worse.

 

[churchmouse]

Unlocking the truck is not so easy when you are juggling a heavy box of fragile dishes. That's why I left it unlocked for a couple of minutes.

We have a Chevy Conversion van. Full on custom that is a thief magnet.
We always lock it. Always.
Last Christmas we went to the Mod Christmas gathering at Big Woods Pizza in Speedway.
We parked right under a light in the back lot and yes, we locked it up. Remote that barks the horn and sets the alarm.
When we were close to leaving I remote started it so it would be warmed up. Came out and unlocked it with the remote.
Rolled north on main street and noticed the screen on the stereo was not lit up. It was dark so I reached out to touch it (touch screen unit) and there was no unit.
Pulled over to look for a broken window or what ever they used to get in. Never heard an alarm but we were deep in the building.
NADA. Everything was intact.
The next day I was going to use the key to unlock the drivers door and inspect the damage to the dash. There was no lock. It was gone.
It is so easy to get into a vehicle it is almost funny. They simply pushed the lock into the door and lifted the lock rod. It is right there. Easy peasey.

So lock-em up folks. It only keeps a complete douche bag out. Anybody with a screw driver and something to hit it with is just a moment away from stealing your stuff. I have as yet not replaced the $400 unit. I may never replace it. Screw-em. That is the 4th high end unit that has been taken from one of our Vans. Never in the driveway. Always out and away.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Could be worse CM. I had one of the fancy ones in my old Lumina that the faceplate came off for security. it started acting up within warranty. I was driving down the road and hit the power button and it wouldnt turn off. Turned off the car, still wouldnt turn off. It was playing music with the keys in my pocket and the car turned off.

Called Best Buy. Yep, under extended warranty protection plan, just bring it in tomorrow and they'd give me full credit against a new unit. Cool!

Come out the next AM and the faceplate is gone. Jackwagons tried to steal it and couldnt get the unit out for some reason, probably because they got spooked. Sadly, they put the faceplate in their pocket right away, so when they ran off they took it with them. So now I have a dead unit, under warranty, but since I dont have the face, the warranty is now un-redeemable. Nothing like adding insult to injury.

I kinda wish they were able to steal the whole damn thing so they could get frustrated that it was broken and they went to all that hassle for nothing.

Turns out the passenger door was unlocked. It had nylon gears in the mechanism, and at one point an ex had pulled up on the handle as I unlocked the doors, stripping the gears. It would apparently always unlock, but not always re-lock. So at least I only lost a stereo, and didnt have to pay to replace a window too.