Theft Happens
A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog entry about theft in Mexico.
It was all very dispassionate, and one of my main points was that crimes are more likely to be against property than physical violence against people.
Well, some Americans we've met had their laptops stolen from their home on a weekend afternoon while they were out. This is theft against property, but it has had far-reaching emotional implications for them. They lost the computers with some valuable files, but they also lost the feeling of being safe at home in the condo they live in. The thief came in via a locked window without bars on it, and their landlord has paid someone to put bars on. But, in a manner so common here, it's been several weeks and the work hasn't been done yet. People have told this couple that sometimes thieves wait a while and then return to places where they've been successful. Disquieting. It's not the only story of this sort we have heard lately.
Theft happens. How does this compare with the US? It depends on where in the US you are thinking of, I suppose.
It was all very dispassionate, and one of my main points was that crimes are more likely to be against property than physical violence against people.
Well, some Americans we've met had their laptops stolen from their home on a weekend afternoon while they were out. This is theft against property, but it has had far-reaching emotional implications for them. They lost the computers with some valuable files, but they also lost the feeling of being safe at home in the condo they live in. The thief came in via a locked window without bars on it, and their landlord has paid someone to put bars on. But, in a manner so common here, it's been several weeks and the work hasn't been done yet. People have told this couple that sometimes thieves wait a while and then return to places where they've been successful. Disquieting. It's not the only story of this sort we have heard lately.
Theft happens. How does this compare with the US? It depends on where in the US you are thinking of, I suppose.
posted by Rosana Hart @ Saturday, July 15, 2006
2 Comments:
At July 17, 2006 8:04 AM,
Anonymous said…
How sad that people have to put bars on their windows - we are fortunate in that both in our part of Mexico and the US we do not have much of these fears or problems - ugh!
At July 17, 2006 12:27 PM,
Rosana Hart said…
Thanks for writing. Bars on the windows in Latin countries do not have the same connotations that they do in the US.
I remember seeing them when I lived in Spain a long time ago, too. In a nutshell, in Latin cultures, one aspect of the attitude toward theft is that the person who owns things has the responsibility to make it hard for others to steal them. This is a centuries-old aspect of the culture. Personally, when I first saw that the house we bought had bars on the windows, I liked it. In many cases, the bars are quite decorative.
I'm glad there are fewer problems where you live.
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