Lost Sense of Security

This morning when I walked out to my car to go to work, I noticed that my door was unlocked. It struck me as odd, since I rarely forget to lock it. The next thing that struck me as odd was the fact my door wasn't shut. I knew I didn't leave it ajar. With a creepy feeling, I opened the door to find the travel screwdriver normally in the center console on my seat, and my glove compartment open. The CD cases normally organzied in my center console were askew, and one was laying on the passenger seat.

I started feeling ill. Part of me hoped Joel had gotten something from my car earlier that morning, and just forgotten to tell me. But I knew that wasn't the case. Someone else had been in my car and rifled through things. I started looking around - stereo? There. CDs? All there. Random things like shoes, cleats, softball glove, etc, that were left out in my car? Still there. Gas gauge? Still in the same spot it was yesterday. I even got out and looked at my tires - all there, and all inflated. The only noticable thing missing was most the change I usually had in the center console. All that remained were a few pennies and a dime.

Apparently money is what they were after, because anything else of value is thankfully still there. But it's very unsettling to know that hours earlier, some stranger was in my car while we slept. Especially since my car was parked in the driveway, a few feet away from the house and our bedroom window.

Maybe the person really needed the money. But they took my sense of security when they stole a little more than a dollar's worth of change.