You'll often want to do more than that. I had the misfortune of experiencing a burglary last year. As a rule, any non-factory sealed food and beverage containers or perishable items that were in the fridge get tossed. At a minimum, one should wash any and all linens or clothing that were disturbed during the burglary. Women's lingerie tends to be the subject of special abuse by some burglars...Use your imagination and decide what you'll do with that information.seamusTX wrote:...I would also want to wash everything that he touched. A lot of these guys have contagious diseases.
- Jim
I'd been forced to come to the realization that my stuff is just stuff, and not that important many years ago. But, some things are irreplaceable and do have a special place with us because they remind us of someone who is gone or a special time/place. As a result, the loss of those items can be especially hard. The biggest thing for me was seeing my wife's world turned upside down. Until that day, home was "safe." Although things are largely back to "normal," that concept of home being "safe" has forever been shattered and I can see it in her everyday.
With that said, it took every last ounce of strength in me to make sure a burglary suspect got to jail rather than the ICU after I saw the guy walking down the street with my wife's earrings the following Monday. What makes it worse is the moron lived in my neighborhood and had known me years ago in grade school and knew it was my house when he broke in. I don't know what's going to happen when that meat head gets out of jail but I suspect he'll return to this area and be back to his old tricks. If all these folks did was force the guy clean up the mess he made, they are better people than I am. I certainly wouldn’t kill the guy but I’d violate his civil rights up one side and down the other until the first patrol car showed up.