(no subject)

[rivka]

Alex had a doctor's appointment this morning for her annual check-up. It's Michael's day at home, but I decided to go in to work late and take her to her appointment so he wouldn't have to haul along both kids.

We rushed out to the car with juuuust enough time to make it to her appointment. We approached the car on the street side and I buckled her into her booster seat. And then she said, "Mom! What's on our car?!"

Safety glass. Safety glass is what she was seeing. Someone threw half a brick through our driver's side window. The brick was sitting on the passenger seat.



As I called the doctor's office and then the police non-emergency line, someone came out of the apartment building behind me and said he'd seen the guy. He heard the window break, looked out the window and yelled, and saw the guy run away. No description; it was dark. He called the police, who never showed up.

We keep our GPS in a hidden compartment. It was still there. We mostly keep home-burned CDs in the car, but we had some purchased ones in there too and from a quick glance I think they're all there. (I didn't do a comprehensive search, because everything was covered with glass.)

The police came in less than 15 minutes to take my statement and give us an incident report. Baltimore City doesn't actually investigate car break-ins or even, I understand, car theft. But they do come by and take your information and give you a paper to give your insurance company. He asked me if anyone had any problems with me. Rather than give that question the complicated answer it probably deserves, I told him I didn't think the break-in was anything personal.

Michael called our insurance agent, who pointed out that we have a $200 auto glass deductible and that it might not be worth our while to file a claim. And indeed, when he called the auto glass company they priced the repair at $297. Not worth filing a claim and having our premiums go up. They're going to send a truck out this morning to do an onsite repair and clean all the glass bits out of the car.

This is, like, the most hassle-free crime victim experience ever. But I still feel rattled. And annoyed that we missed the doctor's visit, because it took them three months to get her on the schedule for this appointment and the woman I talked to said her doctor's next available well-child visit was in January. At least she said they'd waive the missed-appointment fee.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Aaack. My car radio's been stolen twice. I get the same kind of shakiness that comes after a car wreck or a near miss. I hope it doesn't happen again for a long, long time.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

ARGH. Being an adult sucks.

[ailbhe]

Urgh. This reminds me I must report my stolen wallet to get a crime number so I can replace our library cards.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Argh! Glad no one was hurt and it's not too big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Of course it's rattling. I'm sorry.

When someone broke into my car in a parking garage where I used to live, he or she took a few things including a large-size parka. I told myself that I didn't begrudge the parka to someone who needed it, but I still looked carefully at all the street people in my neighbourhood that winter.

I also took the opportunity to collect some of the crumbs of glass, including some that hadn't separated yet, just crazed. This has been part of a teaching demonstration ever since. Since you have a different kind of responsibility for keeping your students safe than I do, I'm not sure whether to suggest you do the same ... but if you do, I can probably provide some materials to explain the behaviour suitable for someone not all that much older than Alex.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Condolences!

We went through something similar one time when we parked by the end of the subway; someone smashed in the windshield of car after car, down a whole length of the street, including ours. We did feel rattled and vulnerable.

[aloha-moira.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I'm sorry. I hate this sort of thing too (we had a similar although less destructive theft from our car). It does make you feel violated and vulnerable that there are people nearby who have so little respect for the social contract... like, what could protect me, really, if my neighbors just decided they wanted to hurt me or my family, or take our stuff? :/

[pameladean]

Blech, that's minor but nasty. It sounds more like an itch for destruction than a method of theft. I hope Alex wasn't too rattled.

P.

[lizardling.livejournal.com]

Bleh. Seems like there's something in the water - a friend of mine had his car stolen and now this. :( My sympathies.

[dglenn.livejournal.com]

"He called the police, who never showed up."

Have I told the story about the 12-hour response to a 911 call in SoWeBo lately? (A few years ago. Called to report attempted break-in in progress across the street. Called again a half hour later to report now successful break-in, and mentioned the house in question was occupied. Twelve hours later (well, twelve and a quarter), the police stopped by that house to ask whether folks were okay. Go Baltimore PD.)

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

This is, like, the most hassle-free crime victim experience ever. But I still feel rattled.

That's pretty normal. I had a break-in when I was so stressed I just kinda blew it off - phoned it in from an emotional perspective. ("Oh, hey, stuff is re-arranged, and your laptop is gone - and *you* didn't pull all of those drawers out. Someone broke into your house.")

But it's still rattling.

And another good example of how thieves cause hassle and harm far out of proportion to the actual property. (This last joker stole my Palm E2 - a cheapie nowadays, but one of the last gifts my mom gave me.)