Quote Originally Posted by pooks View Post
When my dogs were stolen (or more likely, released from the yard) I had just gotten through reading THE GODFATHER and wanted so desperately to have a godfather to go to who would inviscerate the bastids who did it.

That's why they don't let us wreak our own vengeance, I guess. (wink)

The dogs were found and all was happy ever after.
Thank goodness you got the dogs back! I could not bear for anything to happen to Gidget. I carry Mace to protect her from dogs off leash and, more importantly, thieves. (you would not believe how often I'm asked on the street how much she cost) Hell hath few furies like a woman whose dog is stolen. Let alone all your dogs!

I was carrying Mace the night I was attacked walking home from work but, alas, the Mace was in my pocket when I needed it. Does no good there, ladies, keep it in your hand when you're out alone or feel threatened. I was tackled, about 20 feet from a very dark alley. Fortunately, I heard him running behind me and heeded the gut feeling that they were not the footsteps of a harmless jogger. So I turned, braced myself and recalled a security course ("Refuse to be a Victim," for anyone who is interested) directive that if attacked like that outside you should yell "FIRE!" "FIRE!" "FIRE!" And so several people came running out of their rowhouses. He ran off. Cops were quick to respond, but not quick enough.

I was traumatized, of course. Shaken. But not angry. Don't think I ever got angry about that. Too consumed with being scared and relieved to have survived serious injury (and kept my purse, too) and left the next week for a long-planned month in New Zealand (that was great therapy). Didn't walk to work for the next year and have never again carried a purse in the neighborhood after dark.

The robberies and vandalism, on the other hand, elicited pure fury in response. In those instances, no emotion was siphoned off for other feelings, like relief.

No, property crime is not rape, that is an inartful comparison. But theft is a violation. And how one perceives it is based in large part on their own experiences and situation.

I would be particularly livid if my newest bike were stolen. I adore that bike.