Had the police out today....

I'm rattled right now. I bought my new shed and I took 2 weeks of vacation to transfer the junk out of my garage area so that I can finish my studio and settle in. Well, after filling up the shed, I still had some things that had no home that I wanted out of the way. I decided to have a "garage sale" just to get rid of some of the bigger items that were of no use to me.

Posted signs on the main roads, and planned the sale for 3 days. Fri, Sat, and Sun.... no times listed. Today I closed up shop at 4:30 pm, same as yesterday, because my kids have activities going on at school tonight. My son had lost the shirt he was supposed to wear to a school dance, so I had to run the errand of last minute shopping. My daughter wanted to stay home and continue getting ready to go out with her friends to play laser tag; she's 15, so not a problem.

I was gone all of about 40 minutes and came home to a very unsettling situation. I found out that a man had shown up to my home, and without even knocking, decided to enter my home while my daughter was inside. My daughter noticed the truck that had pulled into our drive and called one of her friends. My daughter went to the door that leads into the garage area and could hear someone stirring around. She locked the door that leads from the garage into the rest of the home and then knocked on the door; a man responded to the knock. She then ran into her bedroom and locked the door while telling her friend that she was going to call the cops.

Her friends' mother asked her daughter what was going on and was traveling on a road nearby. In knowing that I was going to be gone for a short spell, she came immediately to my home while the man was still there. Samantha called Amanda back when they pulled in the driveway and told her to run out of the house and get into their car as fast as she could while they awaited the arrival of the police.

Nothing was taken, and it was obvious that the man was looking to buy tools and paint (stuff I've been using out there) because he had everything lined up on one of my tables. Why he would just open up a closed door without anyone inviting him in is beyond me. I didn't really think about locking the house all up because there was someone still home; the area is most generally a very secure neighborhood. When everyone leaves the house, then we lock up.................. things are going to have to change after today.

I told both kids that we need to starting locking the doors even when all of us are home....

Just a wild experience... and frightful as to what COULD HAVE happened.

I think you're just being slightly paranoid here.

Just because this guy was harmless(probably?) doesn't mean you're paranoid...

It's always a good idea to keep your doors locked. Lots of crazies around.

DTA! [Don't Trust Anybody]

Better safe than sorry!

Just thinking about my son's security gives me panic attack sometimes. The world is a sick ass fu**ing place! You should be paranoid!

AI

Is it? I seem to remember you posting about someone breaking into your house and ransacking it some time ago. I think there were pictures too. That was you, right?

I'd get an alarm system.

I insist that all the doors remain locked whenever I'm not home and I usually lock them when I'm home as well, even though anyone who entered this house uninvited would have more than a full load to deal with in me.

Don't kid yourself. One mistake and you regret it the rest of your life.

This world has too many sick bastards in it.

That intruder could have done major damage to your family.

All you have to do is watch the news and you see that a lot of crime is committed in "secure" neighborhoods.

Yes, but the doors were supposedly LOCKED during the middle of the night and nobody was home at the time of entry. If you recall, I suspected the neighbor across the street as having been the culprit inside my garage at that time in attempts to scare me into selling the home. He had made several attempts in trying to buy the house for dirt cheap from me to give to his daughter who had moved back in on top of them with a kid. Although that incident really upset me, I didn't feel nearly as threatened as when a complete stranger entered my home during broad daylight.

Ironically, the man that entered my home THIS time had been made to leave my property by the police, BUT he was parked across the street in my neighbors' driveway (the same one mentioned above) visiting with him at the time I arrived home. When I learned of what had happened, I pulled down my driveway and pulled my car acrossed the front of his truck to where he could not get out. Needless to say the conversation got a little bit heated and I got called a few choice names. The guy threatened to smash his truck into my car if I didn't move it and I told him that he'd buy me a new one if he did. It may not have been the smartest thing for me to do, but I was pretty damned angry about the whole ordeal and even MORE angry that he was still in the general vicinity and not made to leave the entire area by the police.

He had made it seem to the police that it was just an innocent misunderstanding and that he THOUGHT there was a garage sale "STILL IN PROGRESS" going on. My daughter told me that the police had said that the guy had just made an innocent mistake in thinking there was a sale. My daughters' friends' mother didn't tell the police that the garage sale had ended for the day and that the doors were all closed. After blowing up on the intruder and my neighbor, I called the police back and requested to talk to the dispatch supervisor. I filed a complaint about how the situation was handled by the officers dispatched and questioned WHY no action was taken against the guy other than asking him to leave the home. It's then that I learned that the guy made it seem like the sale was still active and that it was just an innocent mistake. I filed a formal complaint of tresspassing since no items had been removed and no harm had been done. Turns out the guy lives somewhere in the general vicinity... charming thought.

The mans' association with the creep across the street makes me wonder if it's not yet another attempt to stir me up. The fact that the intruder had the audacity to remain within a mere feet of my property is what sent me over the top with rage. I'm usually the quiet neighbor that doesn't get upset easily and I pretty much stay to myself... My neighbor seen an entirely different side of me, as did many other neighbors' when the guy laid on his horn threatening to smash into my car when I refused to move it until I was finished speaking my mind. It must have been adrennalin steering the conversation because I had a courage unlike any that I've really ever experienced before. I wasn't backing down for anything and I told him that if I EVER caught him on my property or inside my house I would shoot first and then ask questions later.... I turned the same energy too my neighbor and reitterated what I said only changing up to say, if I ever catch ANYONE inside..... I wasn't showing any signs of weakness or being timid about protecting my property. The intruder was at least 6'2" and not a wimpy looking man... he could have decked me easily, but I still didn't back down even when he called me a f...... bitch a few times and got within a few inches of my face with his yelling. I yelled right back and LOUDER. Probably a pretty stupid thing for me to do, but I was .... well, beyond reason and with good cause.

Those were some pretty harsh words coming from me considering that I don't even own a gun. My parents always had a gun, or guns, inside the home while I was growing up because of the hunters in the family. I doubt that my dad would ever have used a gun, but my brother and brother in laws liked to hunt and kept their guns there inside a locked cabinet. My mom had no fear of grabbing a rifle whenever there was a fear of a prowler; she was a country girl.

I learned later that my daughter had told her friend that her mom chewed the guy up and spit him out....

The doors are staying locked even when we're all here during broad daylight...

Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Growing up in Iowa in the 70's, we didn't have many concerns. Things have sure changed though!

Thanks RV... yeah, times certainly are not like they used to be. I'm sure that it doesn't help that I'm a single woman living alone with my 2 children.

Ya see, Ani, that was a huge mistake, or could have been. Because there are people that have all day, all the time, yardsales you really have to post a start and end time on your posters. At the very least, if no times are posted, the signs should have been pulled as soon as you closed up shop.

Safety first.

I'm glad nothing and no one was harmed.

Nope. There are ways you can up your security. I like my German Shepherd Dog. Really smart.

110 lbs. of you need me? I'll be there with bells on!

He always knows whether its friend or possible foe and we sleep well at night. He sleeps at the door to the bedroom.

Great with the baby too. There's some upkeep of course. Worth it in my opinion. A part of the family.

Heck, that's a scary story.

Even if the guy is just incredibly stupid/confused/whatever, the fact someone walked into your house unbidden is really scary.

People who walk into other folks homes without asking/knocking/being invited are... freaks.

With regard to locking the doors -- hell yeah. And keep an eye on those windows, too.

I didn't realize it at the time but I briefly met one of the few survivors of the infamous Nightstalker mass murderer. Both she and her boyfriend survived -- but he suffered very severe head injuries -- and she was stabbed in the throat (she still had a trach bandage more than a year or two later). They were both left for dead.

Ramirez, the so-called Nightstalker, IIRC, came in through a partially open, poorly locked side window during a hot spell -- that was his typical MO, just looking for the easiest point of entry -- in what was generally considered to be a very safe neighborhood in Orange County, CA.

I like to think the best of people -- but I recognize the realities. As RV suggested above: hope for the best; prepare for the worst.

PS... I was really hoping this was a story about having Sting and the boys out to the crib for tea.

No, it doesn't help. But any idiot should understand a woman is going to react like that if she feels her children may be threatened. I don't think your actions were out of the ordinary for any involved mother. And while you are undoubtedly hated now by some of your neighbors, they will probably do their best to avoid you now.

Maybe you really should consider moving, Ani. There's no sense in living around a bunch of assholes who are not going to respect you. Any good neighbor would understand that you are a single mom, and would help look out for you. I can think of at least 4 single women who live on my block, and I have never heard of any of them having the problems you have described. Maybe you just need to live in a different area.

There are assholes everywhere, Super.

Certainly, some neighborhoods are safer than others. But as we've learned out here in Cali -- bad stuff happens even in the BEST neighborhoods.

If I was in a position to do so, I'd do it in a heartbeat. As it is, I do my best to afford the class of neighborhood that I live in now with the wages I make. The school systems around a city like K.C. mostly have gun detectors and such until you get into the more sophisticated neighborhoods. The school system in the area I live in is one of the top notch districts in the greater Kansas City area; AAA rated and without gun detectors. Private schools were a consideration when looking, but to afford the tuitions would have meant stepping down in mortgage payments... meaning less secure neighborhoods for children to be outside in. As RV mentioned, a watch dog, the thoughts came to mind when my first husband and I owned a Great Dane.... superior pet and great watch dog. If I had a fenced yard, it would definitely be an option. The leash laws are very strictly enforced around these parts and you can't keep a dog that big cooped up inside all the time without giving them some space and freedom to play outside.

Kansas City is described as being the METH capitol of the world... even in the suburbs, drugs are easily available.

For sure Dak, I haven't had garage sales in YEARS for many reasons. Usually I call Salvation Army or other charities and donate all items and then claim the donations on my taxes the following year. The ONLY reason I had the sale was to clear the items out of my way so that I could work and take full advantage of my time off. I was spending too much time rearranging things to get to where I needed to be.

NEVER AGAIN.... no more garage sales at my home, no yard sales, .... nada....

Some neighborhoods have a lot more a-holes than good neighbors too... I'd hate to move away from this neighborhood and find something ten times worse. When I was younger, I seriously wanted to buy some land out in the wide open country and build a dream home. This was before I had children and I was without financial baggage from marriage or divorce. When I got very serious about the notion and started planning a dream home, my mother brought up some very valid points.

She brought up the fact that the areas that I was looking in were within 50 miles of a Maximum Security Prison and that prison breaks often led to escapees traveling the less populated areas enroute to their destinations. Vunerability to strangers in surrounding areas, accessibility to familiar people capable of helping, lack of knowledge about the community, its' people, or its' history.... just a LOT of things for a young lady looking to sprout her wings to think about. Those words of wisdom have carried throughout my entire life, and although I would still love to build a home someday out in the wilderness... I'd like for it to be with a man that I could trust spending the rest of my life with. Someone that will plan with me and bring those dreams into existence beside me...

I don't want to buy another home in the city... but I'm not ready to move out and away from it by myself.