Our house was broken into yesterday while I was at work. While the
boyfriend was at work. During the broad daylight hours some punk jumped
the fence, busted out the back bedroom window and stole our stuff.
Granted, they stole some pretty lame stuff. Here is what the thief got
away with:
-the boyfriend’s cell phone
-1/2 a bottle of $10 shiraz
-3/4 of a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila
-2 spare keys
-3 Red Bulls (embarrassing, but true–I have a caffeine habit)
-Tootie’s leash (which we recovered)
The burglar jumped through the broken window and ransacked our
bedroom, the door of which was closed. He tossed our mattress and
pulled open dressers, we assume looking for guns. The entire time our dog Tootie was
on the other side of that door, undoubtedly barking and making all
sorts of horrific noises. Once they were through thrashing our room
(which was covered in glass, all surfaces), they opened the door and
grabbed the items I listed above. Except for the leash, which they
snagged on the way in, we think. I just find it odd that the thief
would look in the fridge, where the energy drinks were. All of the
things taken, and all of the things that weren’t (computers, speakers,
DVDs and player, TVs), lead us to believe that whoever did this was a
kid.
The boyfriend called me at work yesterday when he came home to
discover what had happened. I left immediately, but didn’t arrive home
for half an hour thanks to rush hour traffic. A police officer was
already in the driveway by the time I got there, filling out a report
and calling for assistance. A couple of neighbors gathered on our lawn.
I made my way into the house only to be hit with a terrible stench.
Poor Tootie was so frightened that she crapped in the floor. Twice. It
makes me so sad to think about how scared she must have been. And I
can’t even think about if he might have hit or kicked her.
But we think that she may be the reason why they didn’t get away
with more stuff. She had to have been going berserk. I sat with her on
the couch last night and rubbed her tummy while she slept. I could feel
it grinding away anxiously. She hasn’t eaten in a while.
Because they took our spare house keys we had to trek to Lowe’s to
buy new deadbolts for both the doors. Naturally, the boyfriend was the
one to put them in. We both cleaned up the glass, but he really got the
brunt of this deal. When he discovered we’d been robbed his first
thought was, "I’m going to have to tell Brittney that they shot
Tootie." So we all three sat on the couch and cuddled last night until
it was time for bed.
We’ve only been in that house for approximately three months. It is
on a quiet street in Inglewood near Shelby Park, and as far as we know
we are the only rental on the street. None of our neighbors, people who
have been living there for decades, have ever had anyone break in. Or
even try. Funny that they picked the poorest people on the street to
burglarize–we don’t have any diamonds or cash or guns.
People who live outside our neighborhood seem none too surprised
that our house was broken into. But they people who actually live there
are stunned, and can’t figure out why they targeted us. We have a
fence, which often means there is a dog. Our neighbor also wasn’t home,
but he has no fence. And no dog. And better stuff.
I won’t tell you about how I lost my keys this morning in the leaves
while walking the dog. I was just going up the street, but I locked the
door anyway. In being extra careful I locked myself out. I won’t get
into how I had to use the neighbor’s phone to get the boyfriend to bail
me out. Because then I’d have to tell you about how the dog got out and
began terrorizing every squirrel within a 100 foot radius. And this
post is too long already.
12 comments ↓
damn that sucks. i remember the last time my car got busted into thinking that what the asswad took wasn’t worth a fraction of what it was gonna cost me to fix the damage.
My wife and I live in an okay neighborhood but a few months back somebody spraypainted “Nuke the US” across the driver side of her car. The whole “why me?” thing came up, but considering that we’re not publicly political (in Utah, you could throw a rock in any direction and hit a yard sign for a republican of some sort) nor are we known to anyone but friends, there’s simply no way we could have been the target of anything. Dumb luck pointed the spraypaint can at my wife’s car.
Regardless of the reasoning, it sucks being the victim of a crime at home. That’s your personal slice of earth. Invasions make it feel less personal and definitely less safe. Hopefully your life will get back to normal soon.
I lived the first 18 years of my life in a small town where no one locked the doors ever, not even at night. Windows were open while you were sleeping because there was not air conditioning and you needed the cooler evening breezes to survive the southern summers. I am not sure we even locked up when we went on vacation. My dad would on occasion bring payments in cash home until he could get to the bank the next day. One summer evening the family was away from the house because the social event of the year was taking place in town, the annual horse show. During the time we were away, someone came into our house and stole from us. Returning home that night, we discovered that some uninvited person had gone through all the drawers of clothing and cabinets. The only thing I remember that was taken was my radio—I remember that because it was my world that had been invaded. There were several other items I am sure. Someone had put their hands on my clothes. I wanted to wash everything. That night my father had brought home a large amount of cash and just put it on top of his dresser as always. I just knew that had also been taken. However, my mother for some unknown reason has slipped the money under a dresser scarf before we left, and the thief did not think to look under it. Everything changes when your personal space is invaded. The real anger came later when we learned it was the son of my dad’s best friend. Tottie gets extra treats–good dog! Be safe!!
Man, that freaking blows. Definitely sending good thoughts your way.
Delete this post and apologize.
man people are lame. when I was in highschool some moron broke into my ‘87 Toyota Tercel (hatchback mind you) to steal my stereo (which consisted of a cheap tape/am/fm deck and a sony discman with the tape adapter). the whole experience pissed me off. stupid people should be shot.
Yeah it was a shitty car but it was mine dammit!
being broken into really sucks. especially if you are home alone with mono when someone decides to enter you basement window. true story. happened to me. i have always wanted to ask people that do stuff like that if they would be mad if someone stole something of theirs. they couldn’t say yes, could they?
Well, it seems like it could have been much worse. I am so glad they didn’t hurt Tootie! Poor you guys though, I know that is the worst feeling.
Maybe you got robbed because your like a web celeb, no? The dog doesnt sound like much of a brute either :s, maybe you need to trade up? The part I love is that the cop needed backup to fill out a report!lol
I second Gwen, but without the lol. Seriously - you live a very public life and are generous with the details. And you ain’t too hard to look at, either. Have you checked your underwear drawer? I hate to be creepy, but if you’re missing even one slinky thing, this becomes a very different incident…
I’m afraid I have to agree with the other Scott: while this may just be a random case of dumb teenagers looking for kicks, it could be a celebrity stalker on a trophy hunt. That’s one of the unfortunate side-effects of your recent career change. I remember when I first discovered your old blog a couple of years ago, and being concerned that it included your resume with personal contact information. The risk of a stalker stumbling onto your site back then was pretty small. Now that you’re in the public eye, you’ll need to be a little more careful.
Several years ago, a friend of mine became obsessed with a St. Louis TV personality. It’s totally irrational, but to this day he is utterly infatuated with her. He’s developed several web pages about her (or, at least, the idealized version of her that he carries in his mind), and the national TV network actually took action against him. Partly as a result of that, he has since moved to another city, but he still fantasizes about her. It’s beyond creepy to everyone who knows him, but in his wigged-out mental state it makes perfect sense.
I’m not saying this to scare you, but I do think this is something you need to start thinking about. You’re a smart, attractive young woman–just the sort people like my addled friend glom onto. Your open discussion of your political views makes you even more attractive to people like that. My friend has become an uber-conservative blogger; I’ll hazard a guess that most stalkers share his political stance.
well i’m glad everything is ok. my mom is attached to our newest dog, nicco. 100% german sheppard, and im positive if anyone including me would ever enter the house he’d bite pretty hard; keep in mind, he hasnt seen me for about a month. the dog is very protective and tahts good.
happy thanksgiving, and i’m glad to hear everything turned out ok.
take much care, and tell the dog i said hello. hehe.
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