To be sick of reading about thieving all the time?

[PassingStranger]

All the time I keep hearing about bikes being pinched, cars, motorbikes etc.
People's handbags. Cars being broken into. Sheds too. Hanging baskets.

It's everywhere all the time.
All up and down the country too.
Hardly a day goes by when there isn't an appeal on the local social media pages about something being stolen.
Why cant people just leave other people's stuff alone.
It causes so much upset and stress?
I always wonder what do they think if someone steals something of theirs?
Do they say that's OK, cos I do that to other people?😡

Most petty thievery around here is drug-related, so I don’t think the thieves are really thinking in terms of ‘Oh, I wouldn’t like it if someone else stole my handbag’.

Sitting in Pret today I watched a woman walk in, take a bottle of water and walk straight out with it.
No one batted an eye lid.

I was traumatised by burglaries when I was a child. As a result, I have chosen to live in a place where there are loads of houses all the same, so no reason for mine to be singled out. Nothing is outside the front unless it's nailed down and our cars are bog standard colour/brand.

People who steal are utter cunts. There seems to be no punishment or deterrent because the financial loss is "small". The trauma isn't. I was in the fucking house when. The burglar/s thought that the artwork on the wall was valuable and took it. Fucking hell, it was £5 at a boot sale. Our house was nicer than the houses either side. Mistake.

Bikes are stolen as if they are just smarties dotted about. Friend had her bag and phone stolen in a cafe - organised gang with primary aged children. Some children create a diversion, other children swipe bags and phones!! (London)

When people suggest cutting theives' hands off, I understand why.

It's not petty having your car nicked I think petty is a terrible word.
It's about time people did think how would I like it done to me. So selfish.
Not all theft is drug related anyway.

@kanet I agree. As an adult, I've lived on streets of similar houses and never been broken into. My parents house stood out, and we were broken into twice while.on holiday. We were kids and my poor dad used to have to sit outside my and my sister's bedroom until we went to sleep for quite a while. I still double check all locks several times at bed time. It never leaves you. But live on an average street and it feels safer. There's a lot of shit that goes on outside, but the houses are all the same and we feel safe..

I went into Boots in the tiny rural town near my daughter yesterday and there were locked glass sliding doors on the cosmetics displays with a sign saying to ask a member of staff for access. Given they are perennially understaffed it was quite a wait. I asked if it was because it was school lunchtime but no, it’s permanent. They had people walking in and sweeping huge quantities into bags and just walking out.

The police aren’t interested in “petty” shoplifting and staff understandably can’t challenge them because they’d put themselves at risk of violence. It just seems so lawless. It’s awful.

If people want to take drugs it's got nothing to do with me, so why should I have my car, bag, whatever stolen because of their life choices.

Same. I really noticed in England when I moved back how much petty theft there is. Ok in the US there are loads of shooting but in most neighbourhoods you can leave a bike anywhere and it will be there when you get back

Very similar to me. I started sharing a room with sibling at night as became scared in my own room. It is such a scary thing and I really think that burglary should attract a hefty amount of mandatory prison time. There is no excuse whatsoever for burgling someone's home.

Yep, i think they should factor the mental distress in as well as the nicking of stuff. I really didn't care that my christening bracelet had gone, for example, I massively cared that someone had been in my bedroom. Poor dad. For about 3 months we didn't sleep well, he sat on a linen chest between our rooms reading, but we could hear if he got up to go, so he was there for a lot of time....

Even as a teenager, if my parents were out, I'd stay downstairs with an exit route planned, and listened out for every creak. Not healthy. And I still kind of do that if DP is working away.