A Neighborhood of Thieves « A Peine For Your Thoughts

A Neighborhood of Thieves

November 4, 2009 at 9:33 am | Posted in Houston | 6 Comments
Tags: Heights, Houston, stealing

Yesterday, a friend of mine sent an e-mail out with this in the subject line: “You can’t own anything nice if you live inside the loop…” She sent this because the large wooden bench she keeps on her front porch had been stolen. Carted off. In broad daylight. This was a big bench. It was not a one-person job. This tells me there must be a big gang of these people in the Heights, strolling around while we sit at our desks in office buildings, treating our houses like unattended garage sales. I would tell her to get a dog, but we have a dog. And we’ve still had every single thing not attached to our concrete foundation pilfered. Maybe she should get a dog bred for something besides decoration. Maybe that’s the key.

All this makes me wonder about how these people grew up. I can remember being in the grocery store with my mom when I was growing up and passing by the bulk candy aisle. Why do they make the bulk candy eye level with little children? No parent hollers at their six-year-old, “Hey Junior! Scoop me out a pound and a half of those generic Mike and Ike’s!” It’s almost like there is an agreement between parents and grocery store owners to make the bulk candy aisle into the most universal teachable moment. It looks like you should reach your hand in and take a piece. It seems like no one would care. There’s not even a wrapper to undo! Not even a package to rip open! Will God really smote you on the spot if you have one single gummy worm for free?

God won’t. BUT your mother will. Even if it seems like she’s not looking, she is. That’s the trick of mothers. But what about the mothers of all the people who steal our stuff? What did they do when they caught their sons and daughters pulling one single gummy worm from the bulk candy aisle at the grocery store?

I have a feeling they looked both ways, then grabbed a handful for themselves, too.

All this is to say, if you’re Christmas shopping this year at a pawn shop for some reason, and you come across a beautiful wooden bench, an air conditioning unit, a leather briefcase, a garden hose, a road bike or an iPod, please let me know.

Thank you.

6 Comments »

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If I come across a beautiful wooden bench at a pawn shop I will probably buy it and tuck it in nicely on my very safe porch in the suberbs. Yall can come visit it though.

Comment by Chelsea Hurst — November 4, 2009 #

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- Chelsea, you are kidding yourself if you think there is no crime in the suburbs. Crime happens everywhere. We talk about it here because we know and enjoy our neighbors.
  
  Comment by Greg Kolanowski — November 5, 2009 #
  
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I feel for you! Summer before last our subdivision had a similar problem. Our crooks hit us 3 times in just a few months. They stole my son’s mini motorcycle and charger, my infant’s diaper bag, and tried to steal my son’s bike but my neighbor caught one of them. They eventually caught all of the kids after they went on a Waffle House spending spree with a neighbor’s debit card. If it hadn’t stopped, we had talked about going in together and purchasing a deer camera to set up. You know one of those that takes the pictures according to when movement is detected. Just a thought… I still feel violated when I think about that summer.

Comment by Amanda Nix — November 4, 2009 #

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Oh wow…really, it makes you wonder…especially when something so irrelevant is stolen. Like a bench!

This is a small example compared to yours but I remember once our teacher going crazy cause someone stole the stapler she used. A stapler. Really? You can just ask to borrow it and put it back.

Comment by Brenda — November 5, 2009 #

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There is a gang in the Heights. I’ve seen them. They are monitoring new construction sites. We just bought a house in Woodland Heights but can’t move in yet. Several weeks ago, we came to see the house at noon and found a car with four people in our backyard. They were looking for “stuff.” We let them go but took pictures of their car and faces and reported them to the police. So watch out for a late 90s dark green Jeep Cherokee with three Hispanic males and one female in their late 20s. A few days later, there was a small white truck driving VERY slowly down the street. I told my husband the driver was probably checking out the new construction down the street. I am definitely getting a gate put up. It’s unfortunate that I even have to lock up the garden hose.

Comment by ltv — November 5, 2009 #

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- Interesting…We just bought a house in the Woodland Heights and can’t move in yet either. Last week our garage was broken into and our grill was stolen. A neighbor saw a white Chevy pickup truck full of sofas in the bed and we think that is who did it.
  
  Comment by MM — November 6, 2009 #
  
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