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WTF is wrong with people!?

ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
I am very pissed today. I neglected to lock the car last night and someone got in and stole my TV (don't ask why my TV is in the car, it's a long story), some clothes my mom was going to return to the store, a biking backpack my mom was going to have fixed for her friend, and a leather coat she just had washed for $40.

The TV is ancient, so I don't know why anybody would steal it, but people who steal are messed up anyway.

Anyway, I want to do something, I can't just sit back and do nothing. But is there anything I can do? I feel so helpless, and angry!
 
you should be angry at yourself for not locking the car and leaving stuff in it.

yes people do suck, which is why you gotta be more careful.
 
let this be a lesson. always lock your car. or don't leave stuff in it of value when parking on the street.

i've had my car broken into once, and my last car three times. i know its not fun. file a police report if you think its necessary, but other than that, not much you can do. at least you don't have to pay for a window replacement.
 
PlaceofDis said:
let this be a lesson. always lock your car. or don't leave stuff in it of value when parking on the street.

i've had my car broken into once, and my last car three times. i know its not fun. file a police report if you think its necessary, but other than that, not much you can do. at least you don't have to pay for a window replacement.
Click to expand...

How do I go about filing a police report?
 
Of course you always need to lock your doors. Also consider a car that is less attractive to break into. Like one with an alarm.
 
That sucks ghall. I would file a police report. It will not really get you any satisfaction, but it will alert the police to theft in your area.

People will steal anything they think they can sell for a few dollars. :(
 
I don't want to poo poo on you like some other people do in this situation... but its very important to never leave anything in plain sight in the car.... (locked or not) I think you could almost leave your car unlocked if you never had anything of value.



Sorry for your loss though... it does suck to have things stolen from you.
 
You left things on show in an unlocked car? Yes some people are scum, but that was a very silly thing to do.

(ah it's what iBlue said too, nevermind)
 
It's such a shame that this sort of thing is no surprise anymore. When I was younger we never locked doors, car or house, and never had any problems. I remember going on holiday with my family for 5weeks in the summer holidays, and on our return the postman had neatly stacked the mail on the bottom step of the stairs as the letter box had got full, but the front door wasn’t locked. I remember more than once coming down stairs in the morning to find friends of mine sat at the breakfast table with a bowel of cereal ‘casue they’d got puckish on the way home from a club and known they could walk straight in. My mother used to always park in the same car park in town, as a teen if I went to town after school or had shopping I’d just dump my bags in her unlocked car rather than lug them home myself.

Now-a-days if the door was left unlocked, some low-life would probably either steal everything, murder everybody, claim squatters rights or all of the above. People just assume they don't have to work for anything anymore, they just take it, leeching off society and ruining everybodys enjoyment of freedom.

Yes, by not locking you door you made it easy for the thief, but you haven’t done anything wrong. The f*** of a thief shouldn’t just help himself to every opportunity.

So don’t be angry at yourself, be angry with that nasty little sh*t, and learn your lesson.:mad:
 
Wow, I'd love to live where you grew up..it sounds like that movie, 'pleasantville'- 1998

mpw said:
It's such a shame that this sort of thing is no surprise anymore. When I was younger we never locked doors, car or house, and never had any problems. I remember going on holiday with my family for 5weeks in the summer holidays, and on our return the postman had neatly stacked the mail on the bottom step of the stairs as the letter box had got full, but the front door wasn’t locked. I remember more than once coming down stairs in the morning to find friends of mine sat at the breakfast table with a bowel of cereal ‘casue they’d got puckish on the way home from a club and known they could walk straight in. My mother used to always park in the same car park in town, as a teen if I went to town after school or had shopping I’d just dump my bags in her unlocked car rather than lug them home myself.

Now-a-days if the door was left unlocked, some low-life would probably either steal everything, murder everybody, claim squatters rights or all of the above. People just assume they don't have to work for anything anymore, they just take it, leeching off society and ruining everybodys enjoyment of freedom.

Yes, by not locking you door you made it easy for the thief, but you haven’t done anything wrong. The f*** of a thief shouldn’t just help himself to every opportunity.

So don’t be angry at yourself, be angry with that nasty little sh*t, and learn your lesson.:mad:
Click to expand...
 
At least you still have your car. I've had two vehicles stolen from me, both times I came out of work and they were gone. Talk about angry and helpless. :mad:
 
mpw said:
It's such a shame that this sort of thing is no surprise anymore. When I was younger we never locked doors, car or house, and never had any problems. I remember going on holiday with my family for 5weeks in the summer holidays, and on our return the postman had neatly stacked the mail on the bottom step of the stairs as the letter box had got full, but the front door wasn’t locked. I remember more than once coming down stairs in the morning to find friends of mine sat at the breakfast table with a bowel of cereal ‘casue they’d got puckish on the way home from a club and known they could walk straight in. My mother used to always park in the same car park in town, as a teen if I went to town after school or had shopping I’d just dump my bags in her unlocked car rather than lug them home myself.

Now-a-days if the door was left unlocked, some low-life would probably either steal everything, murder everybody, claim squatters rights or all of the above. People just assume they don't have to work for anything anymore, they just take it, leeching off society and ruining everybodys enjoyment of freedom.

Yes, by not locking you door you made it easy for the thief, but you haven’t done anything wrong. The f*** of a thief shouldn’t just help himself to every opportunity.

So don’t be angry at yourself, be angry with that nasty little sh*t, and learn your lesson.:mad:
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything but...

I would love to have lived in that world your describing... Sounds like how my parents would have lived back in the day. They (I) grew up on the farm and I know they didn't lock things when they were younger... now... my mom goes to town, my dad is working in the back of the yard and my mom locks the house before she goes... my dad is still in the yard and the house still gets locked. (think living in the country, not the city)


What a nice life you must have had to be able to live like that.
 
mpw said:
It's such a shame that this sort of thing is no surprise anymore. When I was younger we never locked doors, car or house, and never had any problems. I remember going on holiday with my family for 5weeks in the summer holidays, and on our return the postman had neatly stacked the mail on the bottom step of the stairs as the letter box had got full, but the front door wasn’t locked. I remember more than once coming down stairs in the morning to find friends of mine sat at the breakfast table with a bowel of cereal ‘casue they’d got puckish on the way home from a club and known they could walk straight in. My mother used to always park in the same car park in town, as a teen if I went to town after school or had shopping I’d just dump my bags in her unlocked car rather than lug them home myself.

Now-a-days if the door was left unlocked, some low-life would probably either steal everything, murder everybody, claim squatters rights or all of the above. People just assume they don't have to work for anything anymore, they just take it, leeching off society and ruining everybodys enjoyment of freedom.

Yes, by not locking you door you made it easy for the thief, but you haven’t done anything wrong. The f*** of a thief shouldn’t just help himself to every opportunity.

So don’t be angry at yourself, be angry with that nasty little sh*t, and learn your lesson.:mad:
Click to expand...
That's when everyone was happy.
 
I'm 22 and I grew up in a small town like what mpw described. Of course it was a 6,000-person town in rural Nebraska (US), and now it's not quite the same (littered with meth labs and bad stuff going on). At 18 I moved to the largest city in Nebraska and I learned my lessons about thieves quickly.
 
Hmm not good, my sympathies.

The more crowded the area, the more the anonymity effect kicks in and people do bad things. It's just like the internet that way.

I'm fortunate enough to live in a sleepy little market town where everyone knows everyone else. If you kick someone, 15 people limp. Because of this people are fairly well behaved... it's *relatively* safe to leave your car door open or even your house door (the neighbours keep an eye out, lol usually in nosy ways!). We still lock the house door, why not. If I was leaving something really valuable in the car, let's say anything worth claiming on insurance if it disappeared then I'd still lock that too. You have to for the insurance for example, and there's still the danger of light fingered tourists. But in the main it's not that much of a concern here, and if I'm just popping into a shop for a few minutes I don't usually lock the car.

Travel about 10 miles west, and it's another matter entirely! Much more crowded "chav" town where I used to work. I put my Powerbook down in my working area (a fairly enclosed staff-only part of the shop floor), turned my back for literally 30 seconds and it was gone! My baby, swiped! Luckily my parents had very good house contents insurance (including contents that get taken out of the house with you and brought back when you return) which covered it, though it took a few months. Needless to say in that town you should lock everything, always, even if you're just nipping into a shop for a few seconds, and if you bring a personal laptop to work... get a kensington lock!

Just shows... totally different areas.
 
CRAZYBUBBA said:
Wow, I'd love to live where you grew up..it sounds like that movie, 'pleasantville'- 1998
Click to expand...

glennyboiwpg said:
I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything but...
What a nice life you must have had to be able to live like that.
Click to expand...

It was pretty cool.

Jersey, until about 1994/5. It's slipped really fast now though, probably as 'bad' as any UK town for the petty stuff like theft from cars etc. and the non-petty violent drunks etc., but thankfully we're probably a little better off when it comes to actual car theft of more major stuff as being an island evrybody's aware there's not that many places to hide and you're always gonna pass the same people in the street.
 
We used to wait for Tuesday for a new Apple product. Now I just wait for the new weekly ghall saga. :p
 
ghall said:
How do I go about filing a police report?
Click to expand...

Look in your phone book for the non-emergency number for the police and give them a call. They will help you file a report.

mpw said:
...Now-a-days if the door was left unlocked, some low-life would probably either steal everything, murder everybody, claim squatters rights or all of the above. People just assume they don't have to work for anything anymore, they just take it, leeching off society and ruining everybodys enjoyment of freedom...
Click to expand...

In my opinion this is really because of the effect that drugs have had on our society. People will steal anything they can get their hands on from anyone around to get a few extra dollars to buy themselves drugs. I have continually seen situations where drug addicts are stealing from their parents, loved ones, family members, friends, and complete strangers to get the money to support their addiction. It is realy sad.
 
It's not so nice around here too. It's an expensive and nice area and all that, but on the outskirts lie some bad areas, they come here to steal.
 
Sorry man, that sucks big time. Take comfort in the fact that most people are decent. That hatred will rot away at you if you let it. I had all my possessions stolen at a time in my life when it couldn't have hurt more. I easily could and would have murdered over a bunch of "stuff." Looking back now (this was a good 12 years ago) its a good thing I don't have a "kill button" on my desk or I'd be stomping on it with glee even today. They could be reformed crackheads now, raising children for all I know, and teaching the community and all of a sudden they'd just keel over dead if I had my way.

Some basic tips from my life guide:

Don't live in a ghetto next to a crack house.
If you do, never leave the house even for 5 minutes.
When you do get robbed or killed try not to be too shocked. See #1.

I thought I was going to give some advice on not becoming jaded but now I just wanna go bash in some heads with a crowbar. I need therapy. Yeah uh.. where's the Mac Pro update? Damn.
 
Having things deemed of value visible in a car is the #1 reason that someone would choose car a over car b when deciding to break in. Having your car unlocked is just making life easier for the thief - a crime of convienence if you will - it was too easy for tem not to pass it up.
 
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