Thievery

At work we have been having a little burglary problem. There was an "office creeper" who would get his jollies off by breaking into our suite at 7 AM and look for shit to steal. He went through a colleague's m&m candy jar and through everyone's office, before he was caught by our office admin who happens to come in at 7 AM each morning. It is scary - at the same time pretty damn annoying. The guy probably used a coat hanger to get in. Since then we have upgraded the security on all doors, started locking everything up in cabinets as well as changed the code on the cipher. Still everyone feels uneasy. I was told yesterday that the 3rd floor got broken into on Tuesday night. Several laptops were stolen among other things. Nashville Metro crime lab was on hand to process the scene. On the 5th floor - oddly enough there are several Metro Police who use that office space. The burglary took place after hours though.

Well today when arriving to work I was chatting to one of the building owners and they told me that the police were reviewing the cctv video of Tuesday night. One of the officers saw me on the video walking out. Of course, off I go, the gadget guru, with my backpack, and another laptop case, as well as a cup of coffee, and my water jug. So I have my hands full. Fortunately the building owner recognized me and told them: "No. That's just Chris." haha

Apparently though - these thieving thugs (yes there were three) had been stealing shit before, during and after I exited the building. I was even asked if I saw anything or could identify anyone. Of course my mind was on the hellish commute home - or I may have been thinking about bills, etc etc so I was miles away. I felt shitty for not having a good enough memory to help them out.

I understand times are desperate, but I can only imagine this kind of shit is going to continue. back in 2009 one of my bosses had a lot of stuff stolen from his Explorer in the parking garage. Vanderbilt Police caught his dumb ass on West End with all the stolen property. The idiot was a meth head and was desperate for a fix. The dude broke his window and took the stuff in broad daylight.

Oh well, I definitely think twice now about working late. As a kid walking to school in Tacoma, I had to maintain situational awareness more often. I had to learn that skill the hard way. You have to not appear scared, or the thugs will pounce. Thats just one of my conscious raising lessons. People will never stop stealing shit, we just have to learn to deal with them.