All these people who cry "burglary!'.

[seeker]

It always happens at night and there are never any witnesses. I bet they either left the door open, just inviting people into their houses then shout "burglary!" when someone misreads their signals. Or they've just lost their stuff and say it was a burglary to get other people into trouble. Or some people just do it for the attention. People should take responsibilty for their stuff.

Ugly houses don't get burgled.

So if you leave your hedge untrimmed and your windows unadorned, chances are you'll be ok anyway.

I can't see why you keen talking about houses being burgled - what about the bungalowz.

Bungalowz are also burgled.

If the property is not physically damaged at all then surely it was not burglary - just maybe "borrowing" items.

Oh why is this in classics??? Is it just to embarrass me for getting the wrong end of the stick? It is isn't it? Bollocks to you all!

I suppose my burglary was my fault for having a parrot in the first place. How dare I assume that I can just own a parrot for 14 years, care for him, bring him up as part of the family and not even lock him in his cage! I should have course made him fully available for druggie scumbags to exchange for their fix. Silly old me

Lots of people claim to have been burgled, but actually they just gave their telly and DVD player away and didn't want to admit it to their boyfriend

Thanks Spoons. I suppose a burglary is different as whilst it is a violation it's not an intimate violation of your body.
But then people talk about their operations and illnesses don't they?

Hmm, well let's not let this classics thread get too serious.

I'm going to leave the car doors open tonight in the hope that they get bungled.

bungled!

Oh that's it now, this thread will be here forever and I'm just titting all over it!

It makes me really suspicious when people say they've been burgled and then put in an insurance claim, it makes me wonder if they're just saying it for the money.

It makes me really suspicious when people say they've been burgled and then don't put in an insurance claim, surely if it was true they would claim on the insurance?

My friend who I have actually always hated said she was burgled but a few nights later she was out enjoying herself in the pub, so it can't be true.

Oh I know her, Sybil, and the person who had robbed her was someone she had once spoken to for two minutes whilst serving him in WH Smith, so it was obviously all a lie.

Sorry, "robbed" her.

And also he already had a lovely house at home so why would he need to rob hers?

Maybe she was jealous of his lovely house and so made up the fact that he robbed hers

WingedThingy I have also heard of a man who had a beautiful home, recently refurbished and with all mod cons who was accused of burgling a run-down wreck of a property. It beggars belief.

I get the point and humour behind this thread, but I'm not sure it works as a metaphor, and if it does, it actually damages what you are saying.

1. People DO make false claims of burglary. If they have something to gain like claiming on the insurance they might. And if you can't prove you took adequate precautions you don't get a payout. If they have broken or lost something, they might prefer to pretend it was stolen.Claimants will not automatically be believed by the insurance company. If a claimant is caught lying, they may be prosecuted. And there are other reasons why someone might wish to blame a particular person for a crime that don't work in the burglary metaphor.

1. I was burgled once, and it WAS because I'd left the front door wide open. Did I think I was 'asking for it?' Yes, in way. We may all wish we lived in a world where there was no need for lockable doors, but in reality we all take necessary precautions and do blame the victim say people are partly responsible for their own safety if they leave their doors open, wave around flashy electronic goods in the wrong part of town, or say get really drunk and go back to the house of some weird guys they've only just met. If you don't agree, tell your daughter to she needn't be careful, if she gets raped its society's fault. Although it's fair to say if someone said 'if you are wealthy you deserve to get robbed' they are on a par with saying 'if you wear a short skirt', etc. But I don't hear many people say that these days, and I've never heard anyone say 'men are animals they can't help but rape the poor things.'

1. Oh that's it I think.

To be fair, MarySue, sometimes people DO make false claims of rape, too.

Oh the crossed out 'on a par with ' was going to have added 'worse than people who say' but I realised I meant the opposite - ie it's worse to say someone deserves to get raped than get burgled. Sorry.

"To be fair, MarySue, sometimes people DO make false claims of rape, too."

That's my point, or one of them Toby.

So I don't get your post then. People make false claims of rape, people make false claims of burglary. Perfect metaphor, if you ask me.

In fact people lie more often in order to claim on their insurance than they lie about rape. And yet somehow when someone says they have been burgled the default reaction is sympathy.

@Toby. But the metaphor is being used here to ridicule the idea that people make false claims of rape. I suppose I agree it nearly works a metaphor if you want to prove that there are false rape claims, but I am criticising the use of the metaphor as being counter-productive to the intent of the posters. I also think it is not an ideal metaphor because false rape accusers are probably much rarer than false insurance claimants, the 'stakes are much lower in insurance fraud/false burglary claims, and there will be different reasons why some might make false claims. If anything the metaphor gives another argument to those who would disbelieve rape accusers.