Because sometimes odd unexpected things happen…
Last week I learned that there was an armed robbery in this subdivision. We’ve lived here over 20 years and this is a first. I learned about it formally from the HOA [Homeowner Association] + informally from the neighborhood grapevine.
The robbery took place in the early evening and involved two men with guns stealing a new Volvo from a neighbor’s open garage. It’s my understanding that the house security system with alarms and cameras wasn’t on at the time.
The neighbor heard noise in the garage, went to investigate, and found the robbery in process. He was not hurt physically, although I cannot say how it affected him emotionally. I don’t know him personally to ask him.
The police haven’t found his car and the men who stole it. As of today this remains an open case. My guess is it’ll never be solved, but will become part of the folklore of this large subdivision of 800+ homes.
• • •
A place to ponder. Drinking a mug of coffee while sitting on the deck on a foggy autumn morning.
• • •
It’s easy, and perhaps natural, to start thinking about why this robbery took place, to make up stories that might explain it. I’m motivated by my need to make sense of this, to try to understand it.
It could be as straightforward as it seems. The robbers who were driving a Volvo [and isn’t that interesting?] saw an opportunity to steal another one and took it. It was a crime of opportunity, no advance planning.
This would be my preferred scenario.
Or it could be that the neighbor was working in league with the robbers, intending on splitting the insurance money. After all, no one except the neighbor saw these two men, allegedly with guns, and because the security system cameras weren’t on at the time there’s no way to corroborate his story.
Or it could be that the neighbor owes money to someone, a bookie perhaps, and that someone arranged for payment in the form of his car. Things like that happen in this world. I watch police procedural TV shows; I know things.
• • •
A view while pondering. Looking out from the deck into the backyard on a foggy autumn morning.
• • •
I’ve been trying to decide what I think about this robbery, discern how it makes me feel. I’m not stressed by it. I’m not worried about being safe. Instead I’m indifferent to it.
Is that peculiar? Shouldn’t I be more panicked?
Of course, as Zen-Den pointed out, we always keep our garage doors closed plus no one wants to steal my 18 year old Honda. Or his 5 year old one. A fast risk-benefit analysis confirms his logic.
Ain’t gonna happen.
Plus this robbery isn’t going to stop me from going for walks around this neighborhood. If nothing else we might be safer now that more sheriffs are driving through here on a more regular basis.
From their point of view, we’re the place to be.
So that’s where I find myself this morning, hoping this is a one-off, an aberration and not the beginning of a trend. I’m amazed that I’m writing about something so out of the ordinary that it doesn’t seem feasible, yet it happened.
And that’s all there is to it.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 