A thief in the night

I live in a very nice, middle class neighborhood. We neighbors mostly know each other at least casually and the children run freely without fear. The yards are decorated with nic nacs and blooming flowers. Bicycles often lay on the grass over night where kids left them in a hurry to get to dinner or a TV show. As I said, it's a very nice neighborhood. Don't let that fool you though. Nice neighborhoods don't mean that you can become lax in keeping your things protected. I drive a nice car with a remote locking system. Almost every night just before I shuffle off to bed I pick up my key fob and push the lock button. It's almost a guaranteed habit. Several years ago a thief snuck into our back yard, opened the unlocked door of my car, threw my stuff all over the inside of my car, making a huge mess and also stole my cell phone, a camera, several tools and flashlights and about $10 in small bills and change I keep for minor emergencies like a snack attack or parking ramp. I felt violated but there wasn't a huge financial loss. I did proceed to purchase a remote door locking system to prevent that from happening again. I was diligent about locking the car and made it almost a habit. I would bet money that in the past three years I've only forgotten to lock the car three or four times at the most. Last night I forgot. Last night that thief sauntered into my back yard and opened the unlocked door of my car, only three feet from my back door mind you, stole about $10 in cash, a camera containing priceless pictures of my bicycle trip around Lake Michigan and my two granddaughters, a couple flashlights and a jack knife and then, for some unknown reason, threw most of the rest of my stuff all over the inside of the car. Must be some sort of "total conquest" thing. Maybe proving in some way that this sneaky thief is the master of his domain and can do anything he wants. He did leave my phone this time but I know why: I have a basic phone. My phone has buttons and no apps. It's like no all powerful thief would be caught dead with a phone like that.

I "almost" all the time locked my car. I figure that in order for that thief to get into my car on the "almost" day, then he's been there lots more times when it was locked. He's a persistent thief. That means that I must unfailingly lock that car but even more I need to watch outside more often during the night. Maybe get some sort of security camera. That thief needs to be caught, he doesn't belong around my neighborhood. He got a computer from another neighbor a couple weeks ago. We all knew he was sneaking around. The fault is all mine, I knew better than to leave my car unlocked. No huge financial loss but the feeling of being violated is more than before. I hope I've learned my lesson. It cost me some irreplaceable memories this time.