Originally Posted By goodgirl Topic: Fears Question: What is a crime or natural disaster you were a victim of?
Originally Posted By 4Disnee Someone stole our truck from in front of our house and we saw it drive off. GRRR
Originally Posted By TiggerPooh1973 My first apartment I had by myself got broken into once. They didn't get anything much of value, but it really sucks knowing someone invaded your space. Also the worry of them coming back. I have been in several hurricanes. Hurricane Hugo in 1989, Hurricane Klaus, Hurricane Marilyn and many other minor ones. Hurricane Hugo we were without power for about a month I think, maybe a month and a half. Hurricane Marilyn in 1995 was the biggie though. Destroyed the home we just bought and we lost just about everything. The island was without power for months and months. Something like 87% of all the power lines and poles were down and we had to bring replacements and help in from the states. 70% of homes lost their roofs I think and like 95% of homes had some type of damage. It was horrible.
Originally Posted By DlandJB My late husband and I were mugged on the Paris Metro in 1993. Actually, he was mugged and I had to watch. It was very late and we were coming back from the Baton Mouche boats. We were staying across town in the Latin Quarter and we missed the last light rail train. Michael suggested we walk because it was a beautiful night but I didn't want to because I was afraid it would be dangerous to walk around at night (shows what I know about Paris.) So we headed for the subway. We had to change trains at the Franklin Rooseveldt station at the Champs Elysee. We had to walk down a long hall from one route to the other and I noticed these guys trailing us. We were so obviously American. The train finally came. One of these guys got on, then Michael stepped on and two of the other guys cut me off. The first guy reached down to tie his shoe and instead grabbed Michael by the ankles and threw him into the other two. He had his wallet in his front pocket and they grabbed it and threw to a guy on the platform who ran off. We jumped off the train (all of this happend in a split second) and so did the guys, who proceeded to tease and harrass us for a couple of minutes before running off. Now Michael and I had been carrying the same credit cards, so mine instantly became useless. Also, most of the cards we had were new, because we didn't want to carry cash around, but the credit card companies wouldn't replace them because we didn't have them long enough. We ended up having to call his aunt and she wired us money to finish the trip and then we paid her back when we returned. We also ended up having to walk home from the Champs Elysee...and we were not bothered by anyone. I felt like such a dope. The silver lining -- Michael had to fill out a number of police reports and give statements all in French. He was thrilled because after studying French for 17 years he'd never been to Europe and he was able to converse well and even joke in French. We also had a day with only about $20 on us (we'd already paid for the hotel, thank goodness)and we had to spend it doing free things around the city and eating bread and cheese. It was probably the best day we had and we discovered things in Paris we might have missed otherwise. Also, he learned to believe me when I suggested a money belt might be a good idea, we learned something important about not carrying the same credit cards when we travel, and that, if we wouldn't ride the subway in NYC after midnight, we should not have ridden the Paris Metro either under the same circumstances. And, neither of us was hurt. Just a few years later Paris muggings began to get a lot more violent. So it could have been a a whole lot worse.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Too many crimes to remember them all. The one that sticks out in my mind the most was twenty four years ago when two guys did a home invasion robbery on me, my wife and my one year old son. We didn’t have anything of value, but my wife had about a hundred dollars of cash in her purse which was out in the car. One of the two took her to the garage, and since she was only in a nightgown, I feared the worst, so I got up and told the one guy with the gun aimed at my nose that he had to bring my wife back NOW, or I was going to try to get past him, meaning he’d have to shoot me, and did he want to escalate things that far? He brought her back right away and that’s when I got all the hair on my chest.
Originally Posted By officerminnie ^^^^^^^ Wow, how horrible! ^^^^^^^ Just over a year ago we were burglarized by someone DS1 used to be friends with. The kid stopped by out of the blue "to visit" with another kid one day (I was at work) and when DS1 left for work, I think these little punks drove off pretending to leave, then came back and entered through our doggy door (yes the dog was inside probably greeting them with a wagging tail, but they had *just* been there with DS1, petting her and all so I'm sure she thought they came back 'cause they missed her). They took my digital camera, DS2's brand new PS2 and I-Pod, and then broke into DS1's spare car in they driveway and took $1,000 worth of stero equpment the he worked very hard for. Unfotunately the little weasles got away with it because there were no prints on the door or car. I agree the worst part is the fear of them returning. I know it's unlikely, but after that it took DS2 a long time to not be afraid to be home alone, even in the daytime (he's 15).
Originally Posted By SuzieQ I've been fortunate. Robbery of our storage unit while we were between houses is the worst crime I've been a victim of. Natural disasters, the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, though we had no damage to our home.
Originally Posted By officerminnie >>^^^^^^^ Wow, how horrible! ^^^^^^^<< ^^^^ I'm too slow - that was for TiggerPooh's hurricanes!
Originally Posted By officerminnie Oh Scmitty, I just read your post - that was horrilbe too! How absolutely terrified you must have been!!!
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes Actually, I was pretty calm. I was much more angry than fearful. I was pretty sure my son was going to grow up without me. I think it was how polite, calm and determined I was that helped the bad guys decide not to shoot me.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper My home was hit by a tornado in Indiana in the mid-70s and the roof was taken off the house. I was home at the time. I was in a 5.3 earthquake in the late 80s centered about 10 miles from my home...in Ohio of all places. I was in school at the time though we certainly felt it all. My home was hit by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and we lost some roofing material and had power out for about a week. I was home at the time. You don't want to live near me.
Originally Posted By TiggerPooh1973 Yeah I meant to say me and my husband (then boyfriend) were home at the time while the house blew down around us. Picture me, hubby, our dog, three cats, and two rabbits in the guest bathroom hunkered down. It's comical looking back at it now, but I have never been so scared as I was then.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Our home was robbed when I was a kid. I still remember that horrible feeling when we walked in the house after a weekend away, and everything was tossed around in the house. And I'll never forget watching the police officer dusting for prints and seeing a handprint emerge on the white tile in our bathroom, where he climbed in through a slightly opened window. Felt very frightening. 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was a pretty scary thing, too.
Originally Posted By Bucky N Satchel Someone smashed the window in my car and stole my stereo and I also lived in close proximity to Northridge in January of '94.
Originally Posted By Ursula I came home after a long day at work to this guy standing in my parking space. I thought he was lost or an old man confused. Until he raised a gun at me, that is. I was trapped in the driver's set and rolled the window down when he waived the gun and told me to roll down the window. He took my wedding rings (I was married all of 32 days), my new sapphire bracelet, my watch that PirateBrittany had just given me, and $4 and a Taco Bell receipt out of my wallet. At one point, he even reached into my car and touched my ears to see if I had expensive jewelry there. I shiver even now as I write this. He pointed the gun at my head and told me that if I held out anything from him, he'd shoot. I attempted to hand over my purse, and he got angry and said he didn't want it. He then told me to stay in my car, count to whatever, and not look where he went. I ran to my apartment, called the police and eventually they found him and I ID'd him from a photo-book line-up. I testified against him in court and the state dropped my case (without telling me, yeah, I found out later by calling the courts to see what was going on) in a plea-bargain to get him on another charge of kidnapping in another case. Even though I was told it was his third strike, I still think that maybe he'd still find me.
Originally Posted By Bucky N Satchel How frightening for you. The world needs more people who will face their fears and testify against the bad guys. (As the former sovereign ruler of the island nation of Autopia I dub thee Ursula the Brave!)
Originally Posted By RAM1984 Reading some of these terrifying posts makes me feel lucky. We have had many burglaries in several different houses. >>They didn't get anything much of value, but it really sucks knowing someone invaded your space.<< We had few valuables but it felt like we had been raped. To fell uncomfortable in your own home for so long. The trouble was the stuff they took had very little value (for them) but much sentimental value (for us). I had my purse stolen by a student. He got $20 and stole all my pills. How lucky for him; he got Tylenol, antacids and diarrhea medicine. I sure hope he took it. Should have constipated him for a weekP. I filed a complaint and when I went to court to testify (took a day off of work) he did not show up. The D.A. said I would get a letter of apology which I of course never got. We were in Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii. We were braced for the worst and nothing happened. But when we went out after just a mile to each side of us trees were down and roof shingles off. We seemed to have been in some sort of calm pocket. I know it sounds crazy but I was disappointed. I did not want damage or injury but I at least wanted to hear the high winds. Watching it pass and disappear over the horizon was amazing.
Originally Posted By avromark When we lived in the south end, my parents had both vehicles broken into (yes smashing in the tailgate window sets off the alarm), we've also had the door kicked in. Moving back to a better part of town has seemed to stop these problems. However back when I was in high school my mom sent me out to the grocery store shortly before closing. I was the last customer out the door (as the robbers came in), I didn't know the store was being robbed until the gunfire while I was loading my vehicle. I'm glad no customers or staff in the store got hurt (especially the staff who ran after the truck to get the licence plate number). Natural Disasters -> a few cold winters, the day of the great power outage, I was lucky enough to be in Illinois and not affected, however my freezer and fridge did spoil (20 cu ft freezer and 26 cu ft fridge/freezer of stuff went to waste)
