Wednesday, September 14, 2005

SECURITY!!!

I have never really worried about my safety at home. I have lived alone for the past 5 years, minus the 3 months my friend lived with me after moving to FL about 2 years ago. In all this time, I have lived in 2 first floor apartments and now a townhouse. I never thought about someone breaking in or threatening my life in any way. Until today, that is.

My girlfriend just called me and told me her house was broken into. Kat lives in a nice middle class neighborhood. They don’t have the nicest house in the neighborhood, but it’s not the worse either. When she was leaving for playgroup with her baby boy (21 months old), she saw some guy on the street and thought it was odd. Turns out he walked into her back yard and threw a cement block threw her office window. He went through her office, leaving untouched her 3 PCs (she works from home), check book, bank cards, and safe deposit box and headed into her bedroom. He took some very odd things. A camera, a pack of cards, pajama pants with ducks on them, one diaper among other things. Her neighbor behind her heard the glass break and came to investigate. When he saw the broken window, he rushed home to call 911. The neighbor on the right of her saw the man leave. The police arrived quickly and caught the man at the bus stop right on the main road. Apparently, the guy had a rap sheet longer than my arm. Armed burglary, breaking and entering, concealed weapons, tons of drug charges. When Kat returned home with her son, her husband was waiting for her on the front porch. The neighbor had called him at work. If she decided to just run to the store and not go to playgroup, she may have come home with him there. If the neighbor hadn’t heard the glass break, she may have come home with him there. What if he was a killer or a rapist? There are so many what ifs and maybes. She is getting an alarm system now.

I’m a little uneasy about all of this. I mean, I live in a gated community, but people can jump fences. I am a single woman living alone. My dog weighs a whopping 13 pounds and would probably try to play with anyone who came in the house. Or he’d just hide in his room upstairs (Guest room that he claims as his own since I never go in there!) Do I need some type of security? An alarm system? A bigger dog? A gun?

5 Comments:

At 8:34 PM, September 14, 2005, Blogger Jdid said...

it can happen anywehere. and it really leaves you feeling uneasy. an alarm system might calm some of your fears though and make you sleep better at night.

 
At 9:24 PM, September 14, 2005, Blogger ShellyP said...

We have a security system. It can be reassuring to know that at least a scary loud noise will let everyone know something is wrong.

 
At 12:51 PM, September 15, 2005, Blogger Aziza said...

It is a good thing that your friend had some inquisitive neighbors who provided information that ultimately helped catch the intruder.

When it comes to guns, I guess it's to each his own in terms of opinions. But I'm afraid of guns, because if one gets into the wrong hands, the ramifications can be distastrous. Plus, even if I was in the right as the homeowner, I think that I would have some problems with the thought of killing someone and having that body lie in my house.

However, I hear that ADT and Brinks have some pretty good home security sytems.

 
At 11:50 PM, September 16, 2005, Blogger princessdominique said...

Interesting post. I say do what you've gotta do to protect yourself.

www.princessdominique.com/blog

 
At 5:30 PM, September 20, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

definitely not a gun! but a security system, with lot's of noise, sounds reasonable.

 

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