On My O. Henry Birthday
I did not have a great day yesterday. At Crossfit I clumsily dropped a rowing machine on my big toe. I think it's probably broken, and I can't walk on it, but it's my understanding that there's not much to do about toe breaks, right?
Anyway, after returning home with some groceries, my children and I walked into a very messy house. Then I saw an 8-inch knife on the ground. And a ceramic bowl that normally sits upstairs in our bedroom. And another room that was completely ransacked. I told the girls to head outside while I glanced up and noticed my laptop was gone (along with a case that held items of sentimental or financial value). I called 911 on my way out the door.
The police were on their way. I called my husband and he called back to let me know that the tracking device on his iPad was already disabled. Long story short is that we lost most of our consumer electronics, some cash and jewelry and we're still trying to figure out what else as we clean up.
When the police arrived, they were quite competent. They secured all points of entry to the house and entered -- but of course the robber was long gone. They stayed with us for four hours as they went over the entire house for fingerprints. We had the grizzled cop and the rookie who had just started this week. Our CSI person kept telling me the most amazing (if not CoC-compliant) stories about other crime scenes she'd worked on. And our detective was straight out of central casting. She was so sexy and tough and was excited that she'd found an eye witness to our crime -- ours was just the latest in a string of home robberies in our neighborhood.
They were polite, professional, calming and in control. They explained everything thoroughly and were with us for four hours.
I mention all this because of an earlier incident this week. An incident that Ricochet member Sisyphus actually witnessed. I spent an entire afternoon waiting at the Virginia DMV for a driver's license. At any given time, I saw no more than four DMV employees "working." I stood up to count how many people were waiting (125) and saw Sisyphus. And a good thing I did. I was about to start raving like a lunatic about government incompetency and he talked me down and kept me calm.
Not all of my experiences with police have been good, to understate wildly. But I wonder if the more legitimate a government agency is, or the more legitimate a particular function, the better it operates? Or did I just happen to have a good experience with police?
Anyway, about the O. Henry reference.
After the police leave, my husband gives me my birthday gifts. One is a beautiful new cover for my Kindle -- which is, of course, now in the hands of robbers. And the other is a jump rope, which I can't use on account of my toe.
We laughed and thanked God that we were all safe and that only possessions had been taken from us.
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Jan '11
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Your podcasts are too hot. The Man is trying to shut you down.
Jul '11
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Tape your toe to the adjacent ones and use an open sandal type shoe plus/minus crutches. I don't mind police, I just feel better when they're not around. My son sells high end alarm systems. Now you need one. Be safe.
Nov '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Rowing machine error. There's your mistake. Hint: It's not a dead-lift barbell set. There's a right piece of equipment for lifting, and a right one for rowing. Don't abuse the equipment and it won't bite back.
:-) :-)
Get better soon, Mol!
That other stuff, it's just ... stuff. Sounds like you've got a crack group of cops on the case. I think 95% of them are excellent; we mustn't let the stories of the bad apples colour our view of them all.
May '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
So sorry to hear about this. How upsetting! Did you lose any pictures of the kids? I keep photos on an external hard drive, but also upload them to a photo site for backup. Did you have an alarm system? I know that they don't always prevent this sort of thing, but they can deter some would be criminals. Over here in Maryland, we have ADT. Glad you are all safe, and no one was home!
Nov '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
In my experience the police are generally competent and principled - like those in the military. Glad to hear that you're safe and that the police are doing their job.
Dec '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Peace.
Yeah, your responders sounded competent, but this is not the rule and you should keep your Libertarian impulses close to hand.
I am finally getting around to listenig to "The Hemmingways", now, as I type this. It's nice to worry about Ryan Lochte.
:-)
Jun '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
I too have found the local police to be good public employees, something for which we should be thankful. All one has to do is read Theodore Dalrymple's stories of the corrupt, lazy, politically correct, and bureaucratic British police to realize that, while we have problems in the U.S., compared to the UK we're in great shape.
Download Dalrymple's Second Opinion if you want to hear some horror stories about the British NHS, police, and educational bureaucracies: they're so horrible, they're funny.
Losing "things" is a pain, but compared to your loved ones, they're insignificant. And just think, the crook might read some of the conservative/libertarian books on your Kindle and become a convert. (Am I being a bit too optimistic?)
Put your foot up and make Mark wait on you.
Edited on August 5, 2012 at 3:10amMar '12
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Mollie, that is one bad day, indeed. So very sorry to hear about this. I hope your toe heals quickly and that the eye witness leads to a recovery of your belongings. Until then, hold fast to that which is dear.
Nov '11
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
What a horrible day -- I'm sorry!
Nov '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Not to deny that most police and military are good people who take their job seriously, but I think perception has a lot to do with it as well. Most people are quicker to dismiss bad behavior among police and military as anomalous because they can't imagine a world without those two institutions; it is, for a large majority of the population a literal nightmare scenario. By contrast we all know that many bureaucrats are utterly unnecessary and society would do just fine without them, and thus we're more likely to generalize bad behavior among bureaucrats, even though I'm sure if you actually crunched the numbers you'd find that most government employees are just as decent and hard working as anyone else. It ties into the reason we get red in the face over long lines at the DMV, but we're willing to defend this guy:
Dec '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
I'm glad to hear that the guy or guys were long gone.
And, happy birthday anyway.
Nov '11
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.: . . .
After the police leave, my husband gives me my birthday gifts. One is a beautiful new cover for my Kindle -- which is, of course, now in the hands of robbers. And the other is a jump rope, which I can't use on account of my toe.
We laughed and thanked God that we were all safe and that only possessions had been taken from us.
Wow, I thought I had the worst luck choosing presents for the wife.
Thanking God and laughing are two good and happy things to do, especially if you can do both at the same time.
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Umbra Fractus: It ties into the reason we get red in the face over long lines at the DMV, but we're willing to defend this guy: ยท 15 minutes ago
Edited 11 minutes ago
Well, I'm not willing to defend such incidents. The thing is, though, that I try to judge each person individually as well as each action. My own cousin was in a horrible accident caused by a reckless police officer abusing his power -- he killed the driver and gave my cousin life-long injuries. A Lutheran acquaintance was killed in a barrage of bullets fired into a car when he and his buddies tried to leave a fight and were gunned down by an off-duty police officer. Another friend died and another was left paralyzed. The cop was later found to have failed to identify himself and to have failed to follow any protocol at all. And there are many more incidents. I don't defend these horrible abuses. But I try not to hold it against any individual cop -- and that has worked out pretty well for me.
May '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
What happened to you was vile and unacceptable. Here's hoping that, in the coming year, more intruders are blown into the Next World by armed homeowners.
Jul '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Sigh. A calming influence? There goes my reputation!
Mar '12
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Yes, happy birthday! I feel empathy particularly because my wallet was stolen about weeks ago, two days after our GPS was lifted from our car. Absolutely infuriating. But for us, the police were not helpful at all. Nathaniel was the one who got video footage of the thieves using my stolen credit card and ID at a C-store using information from the credit card company (who called me the second the card was used, and that's how I found the wallet was stolen). The cops didn't care, and handed us a report number, then left.
But that's nothing like your house robbed. Gracious.
I do appreciate your attitude about the stolen items being just "stuff." I don't celebrate my birthday any more because something not stuff was taken on it seven years ago.
--Joy
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
What a dreadful business! This is a reminder of what a good Neighborhood Watch Program can do.
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
Joy,
I'm so sorry about your items being stolen. And was this in Indiana? I thought you were leaving our area for better lands! Also, my iPhone was stolen not one week ago -- out of my cart while grocery shopping. I'm about to get paranoid.
Your experience with cops was very much what we experienced in DC after our last robbery. The cops just didn't really care at all. I do like how the private sector and Nathaniel's hard work paid off (somewhat, at least).
Nov '10
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
What an eventful birthday! I am glad you're all safe.
I was interested in how you described the discovery that your house was robbed. It wasn't just BOOM. It took a bit....a series of weird things pieced together.
Years ago my sister's house was burglarized and she conveyed a very similar story - the inch by inch realization that something was wrong. It was when she saw her Sacred Heart of Jesus picture face down on the piano top that she knew ....ack!!!! OUT OF THE HOUSE. CALL THE COPS.
Count your blessings, call the insurance company, and open the windows to shake out the nasty energy left by those thugs. I am glad you had a satisfactory experience with your police department.
Thank you for sharing the story. Happy belated birthday.
Nov '11
Re: On My O. Henry Birthday
dreamlarge: What an eventful birthday! I am glad you're all safe.
I was interested in how you described the discovery that your house was robbed. It wasn't just BOOM. It took a bit....a series of weird things pieced together.
Years ago my sister's house was burglarized and she conveyed a very similar story - the inch by inch realization that something was wrong. It was when she saw her Sacred Heart of Jesus picture face down on the piano top that she knew ....ack!!!! OUT OF THE HOUSE. CALL THE COPS.
I've had a similar experience and it was like that too: at first just something in the wrong place, something open that shouldn't be...