Campbell Road in Southsea is no stranger to crime. The road has, as recently as last week, been blocked off whilst Police investigate stabbings and murders; one of the houses opposite (not its occupants) had an ASBO slapped on it; and this weekend our house was broken into whilst we were away.
With some fantastic weather it was great to arrive back in the afternoon, collect a few days worth of post, go out into the garden with some sandwiches and a drink, and sort out the mail into: "Ooh, that's interesting."; "Oh no, I'd forgotten about that."; and "recycling". Whilst the clothes were being sorted into not worn, it'll keep, and there are things crawling on it, it seemed as though a few drawers were skewed, and neither of us could remember leaving any jewellery boxes out. There was a sense of uncertainty: was the house really left in this mess? It hadn't been, but it had taken almost two hours, a ham and watercress baguette, salt-n-vinegar crisps, and a Danish and diet coke to notice that someone had broken into our house by jemmy-ing open the sliding doors. Some advice: if you have sliding doors, fit some door bolts as the doors are easy to break open.
Whether the house was broken into was not in question. The question was: what did they take? The empty jewellery boxes on the floor upstairs were empty when they were in their drawers; and the cd's, dvd's, tv, computer, cameras, bicycles, clothes, they were all still there. Worryingly, it seems as though the people who broke into the house didn't find anything worth having. How, in 21st Century consumerist Britain, am I supposed to cope? Not with the knowledge that someone has gone through all the effort and risk of breaking into my house, but the knowledge that all the stuff I've aspired to collect over the years isn't worth having.
Unfortunately, back in 2000, I didn't make it to the Millenium Experience. However, after the Police took a detailed statement of what was missing (Er, nothing), they gave a pack providing information about "Coping with your Burglary Experience". Perhaps someone thought they'd give book me a Hot Air Ballooning Experience, Track Day Experience, or Mountain Biking Experience and they just ticked the wrong one. Rather than say, "We're sorry to hear that your property was burgled," it sounds as though, with, "We're sorry to hear about your Burglary Experience," that it was something I was interested in doing, that I made an active choice to experience being broken into. How long before it becomes, "We're sorry to hear that you recently hosted a Burglary Event," in the same way that you might host a Tupperware Party...
Neil - will bring some dips.
