Ever feel violated?

Have you ever had a time in your life when you felt violated? Maybe you’ve had something taken or stolen from you, had someone break into your car or home? At first you have those feelings of horror, desperation, fear, anxiety and then anger! How could this happen to you?

I got my first car in 1972 when I was 20 and had a full time job. I was still living at home and my parents helped me buy a brand new VW Super Beetle! I'd had it for about a year or so, when one day I was visiting a guy I was dating at the time at work. He worked at an electronic store that sold all kinds of stereo equipment and records. I was planning on buying a record (those were the days when vinyl was all there was!) and had taken my money inside with me thinking I’d be right back out.

While I was inside going through the record section, there were these two guys wandering around the store, all of a sudden the alarm went off and the guys ran out of the store. My friend noticed that someone had tried to remove a stereo unit from the shelf which had set the alarm off and we figured it was the two that had just taken off, we didn’t think much about it until another guy that worked there came in and told me he thought someone had broken into my car trying to steal my stereo! So we all ran out to discover that the back side window on my car was smashed and the purse I had so foolishly left on the floor behind the driver’s seat was gone!

First the feeling of fear swept over me and then just plain anger! Anger at myself for being so dumb and then toward those who had done this evil deed to me! I was very lucky; there was nothing of any value in the purse since I had the money with me, I didn’t have a check book or even any credit cards at that time. The only thing was a gas credit card in my dad’s name. I found the purse on the side of the road when I left the store and a few days later someone found my wallet with my driver’s license. My dad cancelled the card and we eventually got it back in the mail.

Flash forward to about two years ago and my oldest daughter is living in Brooklyn, New York. We had let her use one of our cars to travel back and forth from the city to our home. We got a call one day from her all in a panic, wanting to know the license plate number and all. She had parked it somewhere near her apartment and it was gone!

It was an old ’93 Mazda with some dents, not in really good shape, who would want to steal it? First thing that pops in your head is that some teenagers have stolen it to take it for a joy ride and it was probably in a heap some place! Or maybe it was used in a robbery of some kind! All these things run rampant through your brain!

So after about a week or so of freaking out, she finds out that it was towed away! She starts to feel the sting of violation, now the fear turns to anger, not only did they have the nerve to take it, but now she has to pay the towing costs along with the parking ticket to get it back! Now she really feels violated! It’s as though it’s being held for ransom!

She’s left mentally kicking herself in the butt for being so foolish! But she has just learned a valuable life lesson; some mistakes will cost you not only grief and aggravation, but some money too!