Sunday 16 November 2014

The unkindness of burglary.

Our local independent toyshop was burgled last week.

The owners arrived to find the police stand by the remains of the door. Inside, toys were scattered all over the floor - all except the lego and playmobile. These burglars knew what they wanted - toys that were popular, and easy to sell for a reasonable price in a car boot sale on a Sunday afternoon, and difficult to trace.

The town has rallied round. We love this shop. It's all nooks and crannies, small spaces that are fine for children but adults have to squeeze through. It's owned by a family - and they love children almost as much as they love selling toys. There's a small train set just inside the door. Even a table outside with toys for children to play with as they pass. My granddaughter can spend half an hour playing with the toy food, leave the shop in disarray and depart with nothing more than a bottle of bubbles; and still she's welcomed back.

It took a few hours to clear up the mess. Meanwhile children came to the door and cried. But by early afternoon the front door was open and they were trading again.

Oh how heartless those burglars! Have they not been children?

Burglary is burglary - right? There's no defending it, just the urgency of punishment, retribution.

But is this burglary better or worse than breaking into a house and stealing personal treasures? Cameras? Laptops? Passports?

Is it better or worse than holding up a jewellers, terrifying staff and making off with rings and necklaces that will sell to the rich and careless?

Is it better or worse than bankers stealing millions of pounds of public money, then sitting back and insisting they still deserve bonuses?

It's all theft, and nobody is physically hurt. Does the motivation of poverty make one burglary more acceptable than one driven by greed?

I don't have any answers. I'm hugely proud of the way my town has responded to this one - the shop owners can have no doubt as to our affection for them. There is a cry for our burglars to by hung, drawn and quartered. But maybe, in the depths of our Wiltshire countryside, spitting feathers about those who steal lego, is a banker or two who cannot see that they, too, might have done more than their share of stealing.

13 comments:

  1. They sometimes call it 'victimless crime' but it's dreadful, whatever is stolen.

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    1. It's all dreadful, but some are easier to understand than others? Is poverty a more acceptable reason than greed?

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  2. Jo, having lived in a country where poverty is the order of the day, I can better understand theft that is need driven. It doesn't make it any more bearable to those who've lost precious things, but somehow more forgiveable. Bankers? Don't get me started on them, but this particular theft from your toyshop seems more than particularly mean. The silver lining is the way people have rallied round. Lovely to hear that!

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    1. I agree with you, Val. It's dreadful that they've targeted a toyshop, but unless we deal with poverty we'll not stop raids like this.

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  3. A toy shop targeted just before Christmas,no need to guess why,someone will always buy those toys cheap without asking themselves where they came from. A small independent shop can't afford such a loss,they are all struggling to make ends meet and compete with the large retailers. One of the nurseries I worked in during the seventies was broken into. We didn't have high tech toys then so they stole the small tv we had but they wrecked everything. As for the bankers? They are just the same as the other thieves but on a much larger scale. I hope this is the last time the shop owners have to deal with this Jo.

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    1. I wonder if poverty is a more understandable - even forgivable - motive than sheer greed?

      Even so, I'm delighted to support my lovely little shop.

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  4. imo universal basic income would be a step in the right direction - hello Jo

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    1. Absolutely. If we don't address poverty, we'll never make a dint in the numbers of burglaries.

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  5. If we all truly respected each other then there would be no burglary. This is very sad. I hope the shop gets back on its feet in time for the Christmas rush.

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  6. Burglary is burglary, as you said, but sometimes we'd rather it was the houses of the fat cats in the City that got broken into and burgled than a family-run, independent toy shop. I'm with your feelings here, even though my head says to treat burglary as burglary regardless of who gets robbed. My heart goes out to your town.

    Greetings from London.

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    1. I with you on this - I feel far sorrier for my toyshop that I would be for any London bigwig having his/her jewellery stolen.

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  7. It's a lovely shop - I know it - and im sorry that it was burgled. Can't help wondering what would possess anyone to burgle in order to get Lego ...sounds as if they were amateurs. Perhaps spotting a shop which did not feel the need to barricade and protect itself like Fort Knox. Which is not your point I know. There is so much bad stuff. I've been getting upset about those MPs who apparently murdered boys and got away with it. that story has gone quiet - it keeps popping up and then disappearing. I do wonder why there isn't more of a public outcry, since some of these creatures must still be alive and living among us, presumably.

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    1. I really hope a journalist is ferretting away at the murdered boys - when I was working there were so many rumours about people in very high places abusing children (and worse) but I didn't know anyone brave enough to name a name. But I've no doubt that something very terrible was going on.

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