Thieves!

I had some other post ideas, but those all changed when I walked out to my truck this morning to find it had been ransacked. Ransacked!

By way of background, I drive my dad's old 1991 Toyota pickup. My sweet, tricked-out red Toyota was sold before we left for Toronto; when we returned and needed a second car because of the boys, my parents gave us the truck, which was terrific. That was four years ago.

The Toyota still runs very well for a truck its age. Bits are falling apart, though. The windshield has a maze-like crack that's been expanding for the past few years--it staggers all across the glass and branches in several directions. The emergency brake handle came off years ago, so now I just pull on the metal cylinder (the mechanic put a long screw in it to serve as a handle last year). The rear bumper is pulled into a V-shape and the headlights often switch over to high beams and can't be switched off without manually holding the control in place. Last week the seatbelt started to act up, so you have to pry the buckle apart with a knife blade. The seats are wearing through, the dashboard is eroding in certain places, and the latch that holds the back window closed is broken.

As you might guess, it's this last fact that lead to the trouble.

I'm guessing it was kids who broke in, as the place was messed up but not much was taken. Not that there was much of value. They emptied the glove compartment and any other nooks and crannies and dumped everything onto the seats and the floor. The only items that disappeared were my center console with the large bucket of change and my pipe and tobacco from the glove compartment. I do find it odd that they emptied the center console of the tapes and other ephemera, but took the console itself. They were probably vastly disappointed in the few tapes I keep in the truck-a bit of They Might Be Giants, a This Train cassette, and to get in the mood, some Christmas tapes. They didn't take the old Labyrinth or Robin Hood soundtracks I stole from Devin's trash pile--I have no idea why.

It's odd because it makes so little impact. I didn't really lose much--the pipe and tobacco, and maybe $5 in change. I almost feel responsible for it because I left it unprotected. But it occurs to me that it's a sad state of affairs when we assume it's our fault our property was stolen because we didn't defend it zealously enough. Garrett used to grouse about this idea. If someone leaves his car in the driveway with the door unlocked and motor running, and someone else comes and steals it, we act as though the owner deserved to have it stolen. Of course, no one deserves to have their property taken for no reason. It's as if we expect people ought to steal things if they have the chance, or that that is the default response to the opportunity for theft.

My students have the attitude that makes this assumption reasonable. When we discuss morality, it seems to be not based on what one should do, but on what one can get away with. When confronted with the hypothetical situation of finding $100 in a wallet with no ID on the sidewalk, their response is generally, "Well, I couldn't figure out who owned it, so I'd keep it." They very clearly blame the person who lost it for being careless. I kind of have the sense that's what the blackguards who took my stuff would say--it's my fault for leaving the vehicle unlocked and my goods unattended.

So it's no large loss, but it's just one more thing today. Man. Stay alert out there.