Nasty. We had a break-in once, by a burglar who left his cap behind. He was either an adult with a very small head or a kid. I don't know why the thought it could have been a kid makes me even madder. The good part was that we weren't at home, he missed all the good stuff (computers, CD player), took stuff we didn't really care about (VCR). Except for one thing: a lifetime collection of foreign coins from travels going all the way back to my grandmother's days in tsarist Russia. It's not like I need them for anything, and yet it still makes me angry and hurt when I think about them being stolen. I don't think about it often, but it's been twenty years.
A policeman of my acquaintance said the best burglar preventive is dogs. Trained is best, of course, but apparently just the barking usually puts them off, on the you-never-know principle.
The statistics say that gun owners are far more likely to be shot with their own guns than to use them successfully in self-defense, but a) statistics don't necessarily say anything about you, personally, and b) training in rapid use would change the equation.
I know it sounds like useless advice, but, really, don't dwell on it. Stuff happens. Horrible events can't be overcome sometimes, but burglary is just things, and things, if you come right down to it, you can live without. |
