They stole my truck--and then returned it because of the stench!
By The Horse
@TheHorse (220371)
Walnut Creek, California
February 27, 2023 8:28pm CST
My truck is often broken into. Happily, the bad guys have not smashed any windows (on this vehicle). It's usually when I am tired and forget to lock it when I get home. I rationalize and tell myself that I have nothing worth stealing.
Criminals around here (I live in the suburbs) are relatively polite. They take only what they need, don't make that much of a mess, and they don't usually destroy anything.
Most recently (about a month ago), they took only my last pair of sunglasses. It was frustrating, as I had bought them in LA at that muscle beach with good friends laughing and telling me which pair looked best, so they had sentimental value. But they cost only $12.
In any case, I recently helped a friend close his shop. Among the things he wanted to toss (throw away) were some electric saws, some large pliers and screwdrivers, and a power sander.
I had him put them into the back of my truck, so I could hang on to them and see if I could use them.
Of course, the excitement of "getting something for nothing" (no chicks for free, @FourWalls) wore off, so I put the things where they could easily been seen by criminals. My intent was to donate to the "United Criminal Hamburger/wine Fund" and feel good about myself.
Nobody has taken anything.
The two most popular items for "non-monetized acquisition" here are bicycles and tools. I have lost about five pairs of sunglasses and Ms. Horse's bike, while my neighbor and friend Bob, a contractor, has lost several sets of tools.
I am so lame that I cannot give away tools when I want to.
All of that said, nobody really stole my truck. Yet. Nor did they return it, as they had not stolen it. A recent comment by @JudyEv reminded me of the Seinfeld episode in which they leave a stinky car outside unlocked in Manhattan so it can be stolen, only to have the thieves return it because it smelled so bad.
I'm sure many of you have seen this episode. It's a classic.
I do need a shower (it's almost March), but my truck is not stinky. I just used said title so you'd read this.
Do people steal things where you live?
21 people like this
22 responses
@marguicha (223850)
• Chile
28 Feb 23
Where I live people DO steal things. Around 3 years ago (maybe a bit more) I had my house burglarized twice with a few months of difference. Burglars mostly stole things that had more sentimental value as I have never owned any expensive thing (the only this that could be worth something is the house but they cannot carry it).
4 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (104278)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
28 Feb 23
Sometimes a stranger will steal a package that is one the front door of the house if I don't go outside during the early afternoon hours to pick up the mail.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
28 Feb 23
@Deepizzaguy I gather it's pretty common, especially around Christmas.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (104278)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
28 Feb 23
@TheHorse I have seen stories on the internet news of package robbers around the nation.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137706)
• United States
28 Feb 23
I've never had anything outside stolen. I lock my car when I get out of it and the windows are rolled up tight. I don't always lock my front door to the house, though. Pretty left money lying on our coffee table and I kept telling her to put it away, but she ignored me. Someone came in the house while we were asleep and took the money from the coffee table but nothing else was stolen. (Yes, the money could easily be seen through the front window.)
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137706)
• United States
28 Feb 23
@TheHorse Who knows why she did that... She was a teenager and thought I didn't know anything. She blamed me for someone stealing it because I didn't lock the front door.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
28 Feb 23
The trouble with locking your car in the San Francisco Bay Area is that it encourages procurers to break your windows. My strategy is to leave nothing in my car that is of any value to anyone. But of course, when I do, with intent, they won't steal it. I hope my post made you ROTFLYFAO.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (108325)
• Marion, Ohio
28 Feb 23
@TheHorse Depending when he left it was kind of bad at one time. A few new factories have opened up over the last 20 or so years
@zhangxueying (3339)
• China
28 Feb 23
In my childhood, my family lost 1000 kg of corn, which we prepared to feed pigs.When I was about 20 years old, my family lost an iron door in the pigsty, 0.5 meters wide and 1 meter high.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
28 Feb 23
@zhangxueying Do you have ideas abut who they are?
1 person likes this
@zhangxueying (3339)
• China
28 Feb 23
@TheHorse Usually in the late night, they jump into my yard
2 people like this
@infatuatedbby (94914)
• United States
4 Mar 23
I haven't seen any reports of break ins lately on my Ring app so that's good news. There was a wave of them awhile back.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
4 Mar 23
@infatuatedbby Ah, OK. I'm up North.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472109)
• Switzerland
28 Feb 23
I am sure that it happens, even if I never heard neighbors complaining that something had been stolen. We leave things outside in the garden and most of us do not lock their garden gate, we feel safe here. We lock our cars... should a car be stolen and it had not been locked the insurance does not reimburse and you could also be incriminated, a kid could go inside and this is extremely dangerous with our steep road if the kid releases the break.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472109)
• Switzerland
1 Mar 23
@TheHorse We must lock the car every time we get out of the car. Two weeks ago someone did not, his son went inside, touched the manual break and the car went down the road, ended in the garden of another house causing plenty of damages and the kid was hurt. This is going to cost a lot of money to that person.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 Mar 23
@LadyDuck I don't know that I could live in Switzerland (as if they would have me). I am getting old and forgetful. I'd have to be like Jean Piaget and cycle to my office. Would I be safe just plinking gophers in your back yard with my .22? 
1 person likes this
@Plethos (13581)
• United States
28 Feb 23
theres a lot of thieving in my neighborhood. well, not much right now, but it always picks up in the summer. only vehicles that get broken into are the ones that look like they cost a lot of money, idea being, that theres something valuable left inside. most is just backyard theft.
2 people like this
@aninditasen (16501)
• Raurkela, India
28 Feb 23
We have thieves, robbers, burglars, all such criminals in my city. All my gold ornaments and valuable items were stolen from my house.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 Mar 23
@aninditasen Do any of them ever get caught?
1 person likes this
@aninditasen (16501)
• Raurkela, India
1 Mar 23
@TheHorse My city is quite big and scattered and criminals from other cities come and take refuge in the slums and commit robbery.
1 person likes this
@Lignitecityabishek96 (7119)
• Cuddalore, India
28 Feb 23
I lost my one and only cycle before 10 years. Felt really sad on losing it.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
28 Feb 23
@Lignitecityabishek96 Sorry to hear that.
1 person likes this
@Lignitecityabishek96 (7119)
• Cuddalore, India
28 Feb 23
@TheHorse Never got a chance to get one again.
1 person likes this
@Adie04 (17360)
•
28 Feb 23
Oh yes. And it happened recently. The management where I live nearby the campus; she said that there are some thief that broke into the dorm because the tenants didn't close the main door. I mean, I myself trying to be careful, but the other tenants are too stupid and careless to not close the door. It shows very much of how do they live at their own home with parents; too carefree 
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160996)
• United States
28 Feb 23
I have very rarely had anything stolen. Like probably thirty years ago my great niece left her scooter by the front sidewalk and it disappeared. Other people get stuff stolen, but my stuff is not interesting enough.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (220371)
• Walnut Creek, California
28 Feb 23
Where in the US is this? One of the things I enjoy when I visit Lewistown Montana in the Summers is the bicycles and scooters strewn on lawns without locks on them. The kids who grow up there have NO conception of what it's like to grow up in an urban area.
@BarBaraPrz (47699)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
28 Feb 23
I remember that episode.
Yes, people steal things here. I had my bike stolen last year.
This is the next chapter in the continuing saga of my bad luck. What now you ask? Remember my shed that the big ole nasty wind lifted up and threw down again?...
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (69115)
• United States
28 Feb 23
People steal things everywhere, sadly. My dear mother of blessed memory used to say that the only thing a lock does is keep an honest man honest. 
Have you seen those videos of the guy who puts a package out with fart spray in it for porch pirates? 
Maybe that’s where they got the idea from: your smelly trunk!
Have you seen those videos of the guy who puts a package out with fart spray in it for porch pirates? Maybe that’s where they got the idea from: your smelly trunk!1 person likes this
@xander6464 (44431)
• Wapello, Iowa
1 Mar 23
Polite criminals are the best kind. I don't mind theft, rape, murder, vandalism and assault but rudeness is inexcusable.
@LindaOHio (182031)
• United States
28 Feb 23
No, we don't live in a crime area. Knock on wood. I'm so sorry they keep breaking into your truck and stealing things...but not stealing the tools.
1 person likes this
@suwardie03 (317)
• Semarang, Indonesia
1 Mar 23
no one steals things where I live. But most people steal where I work.
