Senseless Break-In

Well, I didn't feel like blogging it yesterday, but my car got broken into the night before last. Some jerk smashed the front passenger's window of my car and ransacked my glove box. Nothing was stolen except for my sunglasses and one small, blank, spiral notebook. The only reason I can imagine for that is pure spite for me not having anything actually valuable to steal. Or perhaps as a trophy of some kind. The odd thing is they left my pouch of parking-meter change. Not like it's a lot of money, not even enough to buy a cup of coffee, but still--that would have seemed like a more logical thing to steal than magnet-clip sunglasses that are useless unless someone wears the exact same frames I do.

So I called in a vacation day from work, then got in touch with the police front desk. They told me to call 911 only if there was actual evidence to collect, such as the object used to break the window. Otherwise, I should file a report over the phone at a separate number, which the officer gave me. Well, I left a message about 24 hours ago, and I have still not received my call back, so I haven't actually been able to file my police report yet. But the police desk assured me that it was okay to clean up the car, have the window repaired, and go about my business.

Kudos to Metro Glass in Omaha for their very speedy window replacement. They even picked up my car and brought it back to me, so I didn't have to drive in freezing weather with no window. My car was back by early afternoon. And the repair cost was low enough that it wasn't worth filing an insurance claim.

That new glass is so clean and clear that it seems invisible to me. I'm sure it won't take long for it to become as dirty as the rest of my car.

My car was not the only one with a window smashed. One of my neighbors parked in the same row also had her car broken into. As with my car, the contents were strewn about, but nothing of value had been stolen. The tracks in the fresh snow showed that the thug had walked up to every single car in the lot, presumably to look inside. I'm not sure why they targeted her and my cars. I didn't have anything laying on the seat, and my car is fairly old and unassuming. A much newer, nicer car in the lot was left unscathed. I think this was pure, random vandalism.

When I came home last night, there was only one car parked in that lot, and I think that one had been there since the night before. All of my neighbors had opted to park elsewhere, so I did too. I found the other car that had been broken into, along with almost every other car from that lot, parked in our complex's other official designated lot across the street. I almost joined them, but just as I was pulling into a spot, I suddenly had a bad case of the heebie-jeebies. I went and parked in the nearby church's lot instead. The church has threatened to tow cars from my apartment complex, but I still feel safer there than in a parking lot that has given me the creeps for the whole nine years I've lived here. Something about that other lot has always made me feel unsafe. I'll probably park on the street or in the church's lot until my neighbors start parking in the old lot again.

So here's hoping that when I go out this morning that a) the church hasn't had my car towed, and b) the vandal hasn't struck again.