My truck was broken into last night. And I think I might have heard when it happened. I did hear an alarm go off in the late evening. But I live in a very residential area, and, honestly, I keep forgetting that the truck has an alarm. So I ignored it.
I own two vehicles: one mini-SUV red Chevy and one teal-colored Ford Explorer. Since my apartment building only gives me one parking space, I keep one vehicle at my sister’s place (parked on the street) rather than parking one on the street here. I know that it just isn’t safe to leave something parked outside here. Look what happened to the truck I parked in a gated parking garage.
Every week or so, I switch out vehicles and drive one while the other remains parked, Yesterday I switched cars when I dropped off my Mother from spending the weekend at my apartment… after three weeks without switching out.
Last night my truck was broken into.
This morning I was drinking tea and reading my email, getting ready to start my day. My landlord called me, really early for a call from the landlord, and told me that one of my neighbors had noticed that my car window was broken. He suggested I check it out.
I put on some jeans and a tee (over my sports top) and headed down. Sure enough, the driver side window was been smashed in. I couldn’t see any other damage, but there was a lot of glass everywhere.
I came back to my apartment to look up the non-emergency number for the Houston Police Department, to call my office to let them know I wouldn’t be coming, and to look up my insurance information.
Amongst all that I sent a text to friends and family about what happened.
I spent all day on this. Multiple phone calls from my insurance agency which resulted in a closed claim because the cost of the window isn’t going to be more than my deductible. Police took my report over the phone, without sending anyone, because we’re not even making the pretense that there’s a chance this guy will get caught.
My brother came through for me today, coming to clean up my truck (he borrowed our brother-in-law’s portable vacuum). He went with me to drop off my truck to the mechanic’s. He drove me to my sister’s place to pick up my other vehicle.
I’m shaken, I will admit. All the thief took was about 75 cents and my car charger. He broke the driver’s side window, and didn’t even steal my stereo. And for that I get to deal with the insurance and police, pay to have the truck repaired and cleaned, and now am concerned about the safety of where I live. Lovely.
But I have the money to pay for the repairs. And, if it had been worse, I have insurance on the vehicle. I have a boss that just let me take the day to deal with this even though it was a major inconvenience. And he didn’t even make me feel guilty about it. And I have a brother who came through for me, a sister who volunteered herself and her husband to help out. I own another car, so I don’t have to rent one. I have family and friends who all checked up on me throughout the day.
I hate that I’m having to concentrate on the good things, but that’s what I’m doing. A few years ago, this would have been a catastrophic event. I would have had to borrow the money, rent a car or beg for rides, and it would have knocked me sideways. That’s not the case any more. And I am grateful for that.