Pissed, yet AGAIN. (long as crap)
My day to write for this blog (if you don’t do it any other day during the week…) is Sunday.
I’ve sucked it up for weeks trying to meet this goal, excuses excuses. This week it’s because I was pissed AGAIN and I don’t want to be pegged as that angry girl. Even if I am an angry girl.
Pissed why, you ask?
You’re so thoughtful. Let me tell ya, it was a helluva Friday.
My morning meetings ran long but I was determined to make a stop to see a friend in need of a hug, so I bolted out of my office downtown and made a beeline for my hood – O4W at Inman Park.
I popped in to see him at his place on Irwin St. and parked under a big pretty fluffy tree who promised me with the sign language of leaves that if it started raining again it would protect me.
What it didn’t mention was that it had no intention of protecting me from ashole thieves jumping out of bushes.
The 10 minute visit really was, and as I came back out to the truck to find her rain-free, I opened my door and shit was strewn. Everywhere.
Because 10 minutes is all an opportunistic thief needs to cut your window (even if the doors are unlocked) and take two bags of items that are only valuable to you out of your life forever. Bags you can’t even inventory for the police 20 minutes later because you never think of their contents. Books. Notebooks. Electronics for recycling. A frizbee.
This is nothing really, compared to what Paulie went through the day before – it was just my vehicle that had been voilated – not my home. Still…hurt, pissed, adrenaline flowing like the Nile.
I’m pissed because it’s my neighborhood, because I got comfortable in the middle of the day and wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around me. I’m pissed because the door was unlocked and they cut the top anyway. I’m pissed because that was upwards of $300 of my hard earned dollars that went out the window (HA! See what I did there?) instead of to an upcoming and much earned vacation I’ve budgeted for (you asshole) I’m pissed because I know better than to leave anything in my truck. I’m pissed because the jerk was lurking at a MARTA stop and left a footprint on my bumper proving he was acting like he “owned” it (yeah, baby, CSI on the scene right here).
So here’s where my rant ends and the 411 begins – listen up.
The responding officer enlightened me on two counts:
1) The #POCATL (perception of crime in Atlanta, TM http://twitter.com/andishehnouraee) may be a non-issue. ? The problem according to my officer isn’t getting the guys off the streets, it’s keeping them in our overfilled jails on “petty theft”. What do we do? I don’t know. Someone tell me whose door to bang on, phone to call, email inbox to assault.
2) He’s waiting for the vigilantism to kick in. Apparently the incident at Graveyard last spring wasn’t enough – he’s waiting for Atlantants to get PISSED and start fighting back. I’m ready. Who likes the sound of a shotgun?
3) It’s not the kids, apparently they tend to strike at night when all the older thieves are worn out from their brazen assholeness. Daytime crime is about the grownups who would rather take your stuff than work for their own.
4) There was/is a thief hanging near the *bucks at 7th and P’Tree with the same MO: he knew how long it took to make a latte and since there’s no line of sight between the parking lot and the shop, he’d smash and grab. Keep your heads up and your eyes open.
4) I wanted to give Inman Park Patrol a heads up – didn’t’ expect them to respond just to BOLO – but couldn’t…because I’m not paying. WTF? There was an email address on the website to apply to pay…thanks for nuttin’.
Enlightening, disheartening, disappointing, annoying. My heart is broken for this…for a million reasons. I just haven’t found it in me to let go of my anger yet.
I hope you don’t go through anything like it anytime soon.
Sorry to hear about your break-in. I know the frustration you’re talking about. I live around Highland/Sampson st. not too far away from where this probably happened. My scooter was stolen last week (during the day) while I was at work. The officer said that there has been a string of stolen scooters recently. I don’t expect to get it back. It’s all very frustrating.
I am curious if the officer felt that the vigilantism needed to happen or if he just felt it was a matter of time before it does happen, right or wrong?
The problem with vigilantism (well, one of them anyway) is knowing what is and isn’t just going to cause you even more trouble or land you in jail. I don’t know what I can get away with. I’m pretty sure that if I pull a shotgun on someone breaking into my car and actually use said shotgun, there is going to be LAW-DAWG trouble for me (unless the other guy is armed and threatening me). What if someone kicks in my door and I am home, but the guy that kicks in the door isn’t armed? Or what if he is armed but sees me and turns to run away? I can’t shoot him in the back as he’s running down the street. I can’t help but feel that the only opportunity for vigilantism (can’t believe I just typed that) is when your own life is in real, imminent danger. That really weeds out a lot of the petty crimes (but major annoyances) we are dealing with.
By the way, its too bad you couldn’t give Inman Park Patrol a heads up. Perhaps other 4th Ward establishments besides Jake’s like P’Cheen and Highland Bakery should pull together to help raise funds for their poor and needy Inman Park neighbors so that they can afford a means to receive such information. I live over in Reynoldstown — perhaps I could get Park Grounds to pitch in to help our poor neighbors across the tracks. After all, our neighborhood chain is only as strong as our weakest link and we can’t have broke-ass Inman Park bringing us down.
(sorry for that rant,just jealous that we don’t have a security patrol like IP does).
Anyhow, what about placing a large rat trap under a rag or towel in the passenger seat and leaving the windows down when you park? Or would that be entrapment or something?
Sorry to hear about this maigh. I’ve had 3 car windows smashed and one car stolen from in front of my cabbagetown house. Sometimes there is nothing you can do besides catching the person in the act. The last two of the ‘theft from vehicles’ resulted in absolutely nothing being taken – just the bill for smashed window. I don’t leave so much as a cent in my cars since the first one. The feeling of being violated sucks, and it takes a long time to forget.
The system is very broken for these types of ‘petty’ crimes and I’ve yet to hear a reasonable solution.
i am really bummed this happened to you, but on a more positive note, the second paragraph of collinsb’s comment could be one of the funniest things written in the comments section of this blog in a long time.
Awful. I’m surprised I’ve lived here 12 years and haven’t been victimized yet, actually. I hate hearing about so many of my friends and neighbors who have not been so lucky.
[…] the little people already in surplus. More educated children with bright futures = less aholes breaking into my car or my friends houses. […]