A Run In With Society's Scum

What a Monday...

When I went to take Ellysa to school this morning, she was getting in the car and said "wow, nice chip on the door handle!"

I had heard a rock hit the car last Friday, but didn't get a chip on the windshield, so I thought it must have hit the side, and made a dent on the door handle. When I got to work I walked over to the passenger side and looked, and it didn't look like something caused by a flying rock. It looked like something caused by an idiot trying to pry the lock off the door.

I tried to tell myself that was just paranoia, and that it must have been a real fluke of physics for that flying rock to chip off that piece of the handle.

Then Cindy IM'd me and said "someone got into the van last night..." and I got that sick feeling in my gut that said "that was no rock chip..." Left work to meet with the police at the house. The van was apparently left unlocked last night, which at least saved us from any amateurish attempts at breaking in, so we only have one car in need of body work now. But what they did do to the van pretty much defies any logic at all.

This is what the van looked like when Cindy went out there today. Sitting on the passenger seat, that's the DVD player that normally lives under the center console. On top of the center console is the power inverter, which also lives below. Both were taken out, but neither was actually taken. The new stereo in the dashboard is still there. The glove box was open, and a stack of CDs that had gotten too scratched to play were gone. Several other CDs (mostly Christmas discs) were still there. The change in the ashtray was gone, as was the ashtray insert. Apparently that was easier than taking just the change. Then you look up...

And there's supposed to be a mirror there in between the sun visors. At least they left our registration and insurance cards... But the mirror?? Seriously?? Oh. Yeah. There had been a necklace hanging from it. An admittedly cheap diamond heart necklace, the kind that you get coupons for before every holiday for between $49 and $99. Again, rather than simply lift the necklace over the mirror, it was more fun to rip the mirror off the windshield.

All this made me go back and take another look at my car, not only to double-verify that nothing was taken, but also to see what was so alluring that they'd try to get in.

Hmmm... Factory stereo, cell phone charger, bluetooth headset, and a couple CDs. Oh, and my gym bag complete with racketball racket and ball, shoes, socks, shirt and shorts was in the back seat. They were so close to the jackpot, but couldn't get the door handle to pop off. At this point, I really want to start calling the low-life punks several names that I shouldn't say here.

So in review: We have minor damage and minor property loss. The kind of thing that's too small to report to the insurance company, though we did file a police report. The cop said that we were the 4th people to call this morning with similar reports. I've bought a replacement door/lock assembly for my car from eBay, but will need to enlist a body shop to install and paint it. I'm confident I'll be able to find the mirror and ashtray insert for the van without too much expense or trouble. And they pulled a wire loose from the inverter, so I've got a little touch-up to do there too. And yet, the feeling of violation is still there. I've spent the rest of the day looking at low light security cameras, and fantasizing about if I'd only gotten my hands (and maybe a shovel) on the punks in action.

To any potential punks reading this, here's a quick primer that will help you in life:

IF SOMETHING IS NOT YOURS, YOU DO NOT GET TO SIMPLY TAKE IT OR DAMAGE IT. LEAVE IT ALONE. SERIOUSLY.

Thank you.