Violated

There is no worse feeling than that feeling of personal violation you get from a stranger when they take it upon themselves to come uninvited into your space, rummage through your things and take whatever they choose. So you can imagine the feeling I got when I opened my van to find the contents of my glove box gone through and thrown about, the contents of Miriam's diaper bag purged into the passenger seat, diaper bag gone, all of my random change snatched and the cap Jer had left on the dash also gone. I can't seem to recall any of the other things I may have had in the van that could be missing. I am thankful that I had removed my IPod just the other day, using it while I cleaned my couch. Perhaps Urbn's mishap was a blessing in disguise. Had I not used it last week and stored it in my purse, it would have been in the van at the time of said violation.

Although I shook and cursed the entire time I cleaned the mess, called Jer, Lashelle and my Mom to inform and vent profusely, it really was a cheap lesson to learn. Hell the Children's Place clothes of Miriam's that they dumped from the $2 diaper bag was worth more than the change. The most frustrating thing is it happened in my own driveway. My personal safety bubble had just been ruptured. And according to the community bulletin board home and vehicle break-ins were on the rise. Taking advantage of people feeling secure in their own neighborhood.

And I'm sure I didn't lock it on Sunday after groceries. So now we will be more diligent with locking the vehicles, closing the garage, checking doors and windows to make sure they are locked and setting the alarm anytime there will be nobody home. I for one will be at the next HOA meeting trying to rally the people of my small community to a neighborhood watch, because looking out for each other is our best bet. I will now watch over my shoulder, judging my surroundings in my own driveway as I would a parking lot. Because do we really know what or who is lurking. And it's just our comfort that has invited these evils in to take advantage of our quiet safety zone. No more, I will now have to question anything out of sorts or unusual because obviously better safe is always better than sorry. Not to mention I hate feeling violated.