A Big Pile of Suck

So, today was another one of those long-ass days that started with comp. class and ended with the bar. I showed up at the bar at four o'clock and stuff happened, people said stuff, and one of my tables stayed entirely too long, forcing me to be there until one thirty.

Not my favorite day, to say the least. But, we're not going to get into any bar stuff tonight. No, we're skipping right over all that because when I got home I stepped through the front door and noticed that something was off. You see, one of the first things I see when I step through my front door is my entertainment center. Tonight I noticed that on top of my entertainment center, where my stereo usually stands, there was empty space.

My mind worked really hard really fast, trying to figure out a logical explanation. My folks/landlords have a key and my first thought was that they had, for some reason taken my stereo. However, as they are currently out of town, that explanation didn't work. A few moments of the rest of my brain catching up to immediate reaction: Oh, I get it, I've been robbed.

That's right, my friends. At some point in my long-ass day and night, one or more people took it upon themselves to break the window at the side of my house, invite themselves inside, and make off with some of my possessions. As realization dawned on me, I noticed stuff that had been knocked over. I noticed that my collection of little boxes on my bookshelf had been rifled through, etc.

Gone:
Stereo (and the CDs inside of it)
Keyboard
One scotch container of maybe $50 of change
My rings (all inexpensive jobbies less than $10 each)

So far as I can tell, after a walk through of my house, that's all that's gone. That's the part which is simultaneously a relief, and rather baffling. It leads me to think that the theives were in a hurry and limited on the stuff they could carry. I get taking the stereo. I don't get leaving all the CDs (other than those already in the stereo) which have got to be worth more than an old stereo that's going on ten years, and are certainly easier to toss in a bag than a keyboard. Why they would take the old stereo and leave my new-ish computer, I don't know (not that I'm complaining, mind you).

In my room they dug through my old backpack - because that's the first place I'd put valuables, right? They completely missed the $20 or so cash I had laying out in the living room and walked right by my digital camera. Weirdest of all: for the CDs I had in my stereo, I had the cases leaning against a speaker. When they took the stereo, they left the cases on my entertainment center, more-or-less neatly stacked. I've got no clue there.

So, after I walked through the house I had to consciously think: Ok, now what do I do? Because, seriously, twenty minutes earlier all I was thinking was how damn tired I was and how good it would be to go to bed. I was not thinking of what one does in the event of a break in. It took me a minute to get my phone to call the police. Two officers came out, took some notes, looked at the broken window, and gave me a case number. Then they pretty much shrugged, said "Call if you find out anything else," and went on their way.

This brings me pretty well up to the present. I've taped up a couple of garbage bags to cover my window and resigned myself to the fact that there's no way I'm falling asleep tonight. I'm incredibly relieved that, though they took stuff, they didn't actually take that much, and they none of what they took was super valuable. My beads and the jewelry I've made were left alone, as was my computer (my two most valuable/important things). My grandfather's violin, which I tucked behind the couch, was left alone. They didn't do any vandalism (save the busted window), and most of what they took is easy to replace. Now I can get a new stereo, even.

It's strange, to think about this in the context of what people value. Obviously (and fortuantely), I and my intruders have different priorities.

Ultimately, I find that what I'm most pissed about is dealing with the window and the fact that my new Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys CDs, since they were the ones in the stereo, are gone. Bastards. I just got those CDs. Oh yeah, and the fact that somebody fucking broke into my house. That, in and of itself, does nothing for my mood.

Maybe now my dad will warm up to the idea of me having a dog.