So I take out my contacts and take a little nap on the couch. I wake up a little while later hearing movement up stairs. (Now I have some friends who keep stuff at my house, and it’s not uncommon that they would attempt to not wake me as they got their stuff.) So I get up grab my pack of smokes and go to talk to him. I meet him by the pack door. As he is setting something down. Without my contacts I really can’t see very well, but when he turns around, it is someone I don’t know. He says something about waiting for the other guy, and gives a name that is a version of my name, so I confusedly say that is me. Then I notice that what he was setting down was one of my upstairs speakers, and the otherone was already outside. The guy is a fucking thief in broad daylight in a occupied house.
I keep my cool, I have no idea if he has a knife, or three other guys in a van outside or whatever. He asks for a smoke, so I throw him one and my lighter. This isn’t good. I can’t see well, and I just got up so my brain isn’t quite together yet. It’s just not worth it to be stupid here . I mumble something about going to the bathroom, grab my phone and walk out the front door. I grab a big stick and call a friend(a large ex-army ranger friend) who lives down the street. I stand outside shaking with rage and adreniline for the five minutes it takes my freind to get there. He brought a baseball bat and immediately takes the lead walking into the house(There was a reason I called this guy, I’m no coward or wimp, but I have no problem asking for help from a better equiped source, and this guy is well equiped for dealing with trouble) We search the house, but the guy is long gone(thanks god all in all).
So I have spent the last hour counting everything I own. It’s all here which isn’t surprising since I’m a light sleeper, and most likely heard him on the first load. The stupid thing is he went in the farrthest back room of my upstairs to grab a set of speakers that probably isn’t worth 10 bucks.
I’m still shaking and my heart is pounding with rage. What the fuck was that bastard doing stealing my crap. Should I have my parents ship my guns back, It’s so hard to think rationally at this point, Fuck Fuck Fuck.
Yikes! First of all, you should get Lasik surgery; one of the primary reasons I did so 3 years ago was my fear of encountering a thief - and not being able to see!
You don’t mention calling the police, and you should do so ASAP. IMHO, don’t bring a gun into your home unless you are VERY skilled in shooting a weapon.
Sorry you’ve gone through this - call a good friend, have a beer or whatnot. Good luck!
Wow, that’s intense. I’m glad no one got hurt and nothing got taken. How about locking the doors instead of loading up on firearms? (You omit how the thief got into the house, I presume it was via an open door.)
Those sorts of things are very common in our town, especially as school is starting again. Lots of rentals here, with multiple residents, and considerable turnover each year. Thieves can take a chance on walking in, and if confronted they can say they are looking for their friend who just moved. They can feign getting the address wrong and it’s credible.
I was burgled twice when I lived near campus. It sucked big time, and I was ENRAGED. I’m glad I didn’t have a gun, because I would have used it without any restraint whatsoever had I seen the guilty party or parties.
Yeah, that’s the truth. I am having trouble believeing that now. I should have kicked his ass, I should have beat him into the senseless pulp that he deserves, and buried his worthless ass in the backyard. Like I said I was trying to do the smart thing at the time, but was I just being cowardly, fucker weighed 60 pounds less than me, should I have just gone for it fuck the results. One of the main resons I send my guns to my parents house is that My house isn’t very secure, and I don’t wont anybody stealing them and using them. Plus since I have been unemployed I have great deal of resentment on occasions, and is having a gun around around a good idea? The guy did untimately leave, and if I had had a gun would I have done something differently, and stupid? I have a huge sence of peronal space, and him trying to sleal my stuff just pisses me off unimaginably. But god am I pissed. Well I need to calm down and make some decisions, but if any fucker comes in in the near future he is gonna be sorry, because I havent decided if I need the double barrel, but I still have a razor sharp katana that I’m wearing around my house at all times now. Break into my house from now on, and you deserve to and will die!
It’s not being cowardly. It’s being in shock. A stranger is in your house, you’re half-blind and have no idea if he is armed, psychotic, on drugs or what. Say you had decided to attack him and he’d had a gun and shot you to death. Would that be a better result than losing your lighter?
OTOH, I think you have now swung to the other extreme. Wandering about the house with a deadly weapon at all times seems to be an inappropriate reaction still based on shock and stress.
You did the right thing, wolfman, no matter how much it hurts in retrospect.
Now- I would heartily recommend against having your guns shipped back out to you, but ONLY because you have expressed doubts about your current capability to possess them in this stressful time.
In the meantime, tighten up your perimeters, man!
…and best of luck- seriously. Don’t go thinking you’re a coward, or at least, don’t go thinking the majority of people in your same situation would have acted differently. I might not have, and I own guns.
Get a dog. The best burgler protection there is. Did he have a key?
A friend of mine got broken into once - he came home to find his front door busted in, all his valuables (TV, IMac, stereo etc) lined up by the front door, and the keyboard to the computer missing.
He reckons they got startled and ran away without coming back for the high-rent items. Heh, heh, heh.
First, wolfman, I’m glad nobody was hurt. Giving him the cigarette wasn’t stupid. It was a perfectly reasonable way to stall for time. You’re absolutely right that it’s good they were gone when you and your friend re-entered the house. Losing your stuff is not a big deal compared to somebody getting hurt.
You might have yelled at the guy or lunged at him, and maybe he would have run away, or maybe you could have subdued him and waited for the police . . . or maybe he would have pulled a knife, or a gun, or hollered for his buddies who were waiting outside to come in and beat the snot out of you.
Nothing you did speaks of cowardice. You stayed calm and didn’t do anything stupid. That was a good way to handle the situation.
And now, I have a recommendation for you. I hear they’ve invented these new-fangled vision-enhancing devices. They’re pretty innovative. They consist of two lenses that are actually suspended in front of your eyes in a “frame” of plastic or metal. Unlike contacts, it is very easy to apply them to your face so you can use them pretty much instantly whenever you need to be able to see.
I mean, seriously, my husband is an optician, and my mind boggles at the number of people who he says don’t want glasses with their contacts. Aside from obvious cases like this when you might need to see quickly, what happens if you start having trouble with your contacts? Until you can get to see the optometrist or opthamalogist, you have the choice of a) continuing to use your contacts (i.e. risk seriously damaging your vision) or b) being unable to see. You can get a cheap pair of glasses for under $100–and if they’re just for emergencies, they don’t have to be the latest $400 Tommy Helfinger style with wafer thin high-index lenses. So get a pair of glasses if you don’t have them, and keep them around when you don’t have you contacts in.
And, uh, is it just me, or does it seem like bringing guns into a house where friends and other people wander in and out freely might be a bad idea? I guess you could get a gun safe or something, but all in all, wouldn’t it be a better idea to lock your doors? Your friends can learn to knock.
Don’t get your gun… Buy a stun gun (long range) and get an alarm system… maybe just some sort of cheap system.
Why a stun gun? Not too sure the rules in your state (what state?) but you could in theory go down for man slaughter… Plus, you said you had your contacts out… what happens when you shoot your room mate by accident? It’s best to be defensive in this situation… not really fair but it’s the best route to take.
It’s amazing what people get away with in broad daylight… it’s almost clever… I mean who would expect somebody so dumb as to rob you in the middle of the day? Kind of makes them blend in like their doing something for your roommate or something… gee can I have a cig? Thanks! You tha Man… I’ll get ya back…
