The Welcoming Committee

We got robbed today. I got the call about 5 from Kat. It kind of freaked me out at first because we didn’t know if they might be in the house. Thankfully not. We knew when we moved to Richmond that it wasn’t a good part of town, but as I said before, it’s a better part of a bad part of town, and we hoped to avoid trouble. Still, I didn’t expect it so soon.

It looks like they tried to enter through the back door, and failed, instead breaking a garage window behind the fence to avoid attention. But the door from the garage to the house is not particularly easy to get past, and can’t be unlocked from the outside. They first tried an axe they found in the garage, and after that failed on the steel door, they pried it open with a large hammer.

They knew what they were going after. Xbox games, which are apparently a common target, my bass guitar, jewelry, and money. They ransacked the bedroom, and the rest of the house looked virtually untouched. We’re still mentally cataloging our belongings to see what is missing, a task all the harder when everything is in a new place, or even still in boxes. Much of the stuff I would have thought they’d steal was untouched. Electronics, computer stuff. Thankfully my camera equipment was well hidden. I joked with Kat that she wishes they had taken it so she’d get me back when we go out of the house (trying to remember the last time that happened!), but she said she knew I’d just want to buy another one. Even if not now, I’d want it eventually. She’s probably right.

The ridiculous part of all this is that we’re still waiting for the police, almost 5 hours later. But before you feel for me too much, consider me lucky. About 8 o’clock, we got a call from Guitar Center where I bought my bass. Quickly I asked Kat to check and see if it was gone. It was, and they called the police from the neighboring town, and I recovered my guitar. The police officer (from the neighboring city) said it was ridiculous when I told him it was two hours with no police report. Then I found out it was really three and he just scoffed. Since we had the suspects in custody, they hoped to have the Richmond police pick them up directly, but they couldn't make it right away, so they said they'd make our call a priority and get over to our place right away. That was two hours ago.

It was sheer luck they tried to sell it to the same place I bought it. Kat got some of her jewelry back, but the most irreplaceable stuff, Kat’s Grandmother’s jewelry, couldn’t be found. I saw the guys when I went to get the guitar back. They were teenagers. A white scruffy looking guy and a latino kid. The white guy seemed more used to the routine, a suspicion possibly confirmed by the fact that when Kat went to the police station. The latin kid’s parents came immediately to pick him up. The others seemed less concerned.

You know, I’ve always hated crimes like this the most. The purse snatcher. The guy that breaks into cars. The guy who takes something off someone’s desk at work. They aren’t the headline crimes, but they tear at our society from within, exposing our sense of safety and trust so that we withdraw into our shells, hardened against the world. It’s not the monetary loss, it’s the feeling of violation that’s most disturbing.

I just want to go to sleep knowing I’m safe. If only the police would show up so we could go into our bedroom.