Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Police Blotter
Monday night someone broke into the laundry room in our building. Well, not "broke in" exactly, since both the back gate and the laundry room door were conveniently left wide open. (We were going to put out a sign that said "Intruders Welcome," but we ran out of puffy paint.) But regardless of whether he entered by force or was offered a guided tour and a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, our visitor's manners could have used a little improving. He flipped over our washing machine and broke open the coin boxes on both machines, causing me to wonder if in fact our intruder was an arcade-crazed preteen all hepped up on Slushie. Of course, the only other options for theft in that room were several old cans of paint and a broken rowing machine, so I guess the quarters seemed like a windfall. It may not be exactly correct to say that crime didn't pay, but it certainly didn't pay very well. Our thief probably would have made out better spending that time one of your finer Malaysian sweat shops.
But the strangest thing about this occurrence is the way it has frankly sort of freaked me out. I hardly batted an eye when the girls in the apartment below us got robbed; I guess I just kind of figured that they were sort of mean and definitely shouldn't have left their back window open. And that was during the day, when there are no shadows that people could conceivably jump me from ninja style. Now, though, I'm doing the thing where I quickly whip around corners to look for intruders and wield my keys like a weapon. Yesterday I almost shanked Roommate Liz.
Maybe I should join the neighborhood watch. They make you do things for that, though, don't they?
Monday night someone broke into the laundry room in our building. Well, not "broke in" exactly, since both the back gate and the laundry room door were conveniently left wide open. (We were going to put out a sign that said "Intruders Welcome," but we ran out of puffy paint.) But regardless of whether he entered by force or was offered a guided tour and a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, our visitor's manners could have used a little improving. He flipped over our washing machine and broke open the coin boxes on both machines, causing me to wonder if in fact our intruder was an arcade-crazed preteen all hepped up on Slushie. Of course, the only other options for theft in that room were several old cans of paint and a broken rowing machine, so I guess the quarters seemed like a windfall. It may not be exactly correct to say that crime didn't pay, but it certainly didn't pay very well. Our thief probably would have made out better spending that time one of your finer Malaysian sweat shops.
But the strangest thing about this occurrence is the way it has frankly sort of freaked me out. I hardly batted an eye when the girls in the apartment below us got robbed; I guess I just kind of figured that they were sort of mean and definitely shouldn't have left their back window open. And that was during the day, when there are no shadows that people could conceivably jump me from ninja style. Now, though, I'm doing the thing where I quickly whip around corners to look for intruders and wield my keys like a weapon. Yesterday I almost shanked Roommate Liz.
Maybe I should join the neighborhood watch. They make you do things for that, though, don't they?
