Monday, 10 January 2011

Two thief alerts

But only one is for real.

I was running late and shouldn’t really have gone to the shops to treat myself to new body cream, perfume and make-up but I went anyway. Unfortunately the lady behind the counter must have been having a stressful day too. She left the security tag on the perfume and body cream set. As I left the shop I heard an alarm but was sure it couldn’t have been me because I’d paid for everything. The security people who instantly surrounded me weren’t so sure, neither were all the shoppers who gawped at me as my bags and pockets were thoroughly searched. The incident has a good outcome. I had receipts for everything. I am not a thief...

...which is more than can be said for the boys who broke into a neighbour’s house last week. Our neighbour disturbed them which meant they didn’t get much but she was scared out of her wits. They had knives. What sort of people do this to innocent homeowners? What makes them think they can take what we’ve all worked hard to buy?

During the afternoon workmen had been in the house. A friend was there to keep an eye on them but these workmen asked a few too many questions. They wanted to know what sort of hours the homeowners worked and where the lights were for different rooms. (They weren’t electricians.) They went into rooms that had nothing to do with the job they were supposed to be doing. They could be perfectly innocent but the information they gleaned would have been very helpful to the thieves so...

...if any Leicester people are reading this blog, don’t tell workmen anything, don’t let them wander where they shouldn’t and if workmen start asking questions call the police.

I’m getting a bit serious of late. Note to self: must lighten up!
                                                                                                              

16 comments:

  1. Thank goodness you had the receipt handy! And wow, your second example is scary. I hate to hear about things like that.

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  2. Hi Talli, I always hold on to my receipts and yes the second one is very scary.

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  3. Goodness me. Did they treat you like a criminal until you showed them receipts?

    How dreadful for your neighbour as I'm sure an incident like that is most unsettling.

    Glad not one was hurt and gald you're a free woman! LOL

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  4. That's so upsetting! I don't like the sound of those workers asking those kinds of questions! Keep your doors and windows locked up tight!

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  5. Claire McComisky11 Jan 2011, 11:03:00

    I hope you got an apology for the sales assistants mistake!

    It makes me sad to think that in order to protect ourselves from incidents like these, we have to take a cynical view on people and situations.Hope your neighbour isn't too affected by it.

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  6. Hi Jo, I wasn't roughed up or anything. I think it was more the embarrassment than anything and I suppose you can't blame them. There are a lot of real thieves around.

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  7. Hi Jemi, I'm a bit obsessed with locks and things. We have window locks, security rods through the doors, deadlocks and an alarm!

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  8. Hi Claire, I became a cynic long ago. I'm afraid I never totally believe or trust people I don't know personally. Awful isn't it.

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  9. I just found your blog, and I'm enjoying your writing a lot! I also has a good laugh at the Tracey story you told on Grumpy Old Ken's blog. As a former teacher myself, I cringed for you and laughed heartily at your not fessing up! Hysterical!

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  10. what a horrible pair of exeriences.
    It must have been so embarrassing - and it can happen so easily that the check-out girl forgets to remove the tag.
    Did the police manage to connect the thieves with the workmen?

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  11. What an awful experience--it's also a sad reminder about the fact that we need to be really careful about that kind of thing. I'm a trusting person by nature, but I do keep instances like this in mind.

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  12. Hi Kristal and thanks for the follow. Sorry to make you cringe but us former teachers must stick together!

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  13. Hi Ann, I've heard nothing more about the thief incident. I hope they manage to catch them and if it is those workmen involved then they deserve custodial sentences for sure.

    Hi Amie, isn't it a shame that the trusting side of our nature gets knocked out of us with experience of life's realities.

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  14. Oh my! I hate even the *feeling* that people might think I've stolen something, so I felt your pain when those alarms went off! The other day I had to wait for my mother-in-law to pick me up from a store, so I took my purchases (which were mostly storage boxes, so were not bagged) into the food court area to wait (we Americans have food available everywhere!). The whole time I clutched my receipt because without the bags to prove I'd purchased the items, I was sure someone was going to stop me on the way out ... But nobody did. How's that for a anticlimactic ending? :)

    I'm glad your neighbor caught those boys before they did any real damage. How scary!


    Amy

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  15. Hi Amy, anticlimactic endings are just fine when we're talking about our own lives. Let's keep the sensational stuff for our writing, shall we!

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  16. I just noticed the typo on my former comment. I despise typos, and I've unfortunately found them to be a risk of typing on mobile phones. I still use one, though, because the risk of typos is balanced out by the advantage of being able to occassionally nurse my babies and go online simultaneously.

    If you ever find time, I'd be honored if you'd take a look at my blog:
    http://kateandannamoments.blogspot.com/

    Thank you for your time.

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