Stranger Danger

My wife got a visitor Friday morning. He said he ran out of gas. She called me at work to see if we had any. I told her no, that we had less than half a gallon. She said she would take him to town and get some. She went in to get her keys and then heard him drive off. She decided that was strange, so she called the sheriff. She also had her dad come out to watch the place as she went to the dentist. When she left, the sheriff and chief deputy had the guy in a squad car just past the neighbors to the west. She called the sheriff after she got home and was asked to come in and give a statement. The guy had a gal with him. Neither of them had a valid drivers license. They towed the pickup. He asked if she recognized the guy from a photo on the computer. She did. We found out that he had walked into the driveway of the neighbor east of us and then turned around before coming to our place. Probably a good thing that she went to the door. He probably would have broke in if nobody home.
My parents live about 30 miles from us and they got burgularized in February as well as a neighbor of theirs.
Be aware of strange behavior and don't be afraid to let the authorities know. I gave her bad advise and heard about it from her parents.

Your wife was very, very lucky. Around here, you never answer the door unless you know who it is.

The city is encroaching on our farm, too. We've had several "snoopers" and one attempted break in. We put a gate up across the driveway and fences & gates with locks around the farm. Put an extra pad lock on the shop & installed steel doors with deadbolts on the house.

Glad James' parents aren't here to see it.

Your wife was lucky that she was not hurt or worse. It is getting bad every where. It is just worse in some places. I think that when people stopped being made responsible for their actions is when it all started to unravel. The meth drug problem around here has been causing problems for the last ten years or so. I have had my shop broken into three times. I live less than 150 feet away. Not much was taken but I do now have a fence around the whole home stead. I have two trained German Shepard dogs that are out every night. You used to be able to leave everything open and unlocked. Now that we try to rehabilitate people rather than punish them we have many more problems. You see and read horror stories about guys that have been convicted many times running loose again.

Iowa changed the concealed weapon law at the first of the year. It has exploded in honest people wanting to have their own personal protection. In most rural areas the police or sheriff just get to clean up after the crime. It is just a fact that no one can change. They are sickened by what they see. too.

I agree with Nancy, based on the fact that today, you just don't know who or what you are dealing with today, being alone and encountering strangers at the front door in a rural environment, one has to consider their safety immediately, regardless.

Bingo!! And "around here" means "anywhere" anymore.

Probably checking to see if there was anyone home, - if not then burgarlize..

Hope they put them on the road to graybar hotel.

Last December my next neighbor's place got broken into. Burglarized garage and pole barn to the tune of about $3000 worth of hand tools and small electrical tools. He lives elsewhere, and comes up some weekends. Something that was probably not lost on burglars. I'm the only one in the immediate area who's the "neighborhood watch." Sure fell down on that job that nite.

I'm just pointing out locking people up without rehabilitating them doesn't fix anything. They're worst when they get out. The myth of "punishing" them and them learning their lesson is nonsense. If you're poor, have no job or reputation to worry about, jail doesn't mean the same thing as to you or me.

What can we expect when our federal government has made it a "right" to have a place to live, free food, free medical care, along with a check for spending money. The only other need is money for the drug habit.
So much for the Great Society Programs.
Joe

Ken,

I agree, if anything many of them are worse after being in jail or prison from the "new friends" they meet to the new "skills" that they learn from other crooks.
I say we send them to China. It may sound absurd at first, but China wants everything we have and have already gotten a a lot of it. The crooks are a part of what we have so I say send them a load of crooks with every American job that leaves our shores.

I have no sympathy for a crook that thrives off the efforts and labors of other folks. Our new place is in the country now but we have yet to move in. We live 80 miles away and I'm only there on the weekends but at least we're at the end of the road and I have 3 of my neighbors watching who comes in and who drives out. Small piece of mind but I know in this day and age, there's a good chance we'll get hit.


I'm glad your wife and family are okay and that they caught these folks.

If it were up to me, and I may sound like a nut job from saying this, but I'd rather see them cut a finger off a convicted thieves' hand and save the money on "rehabilitation". Then at least when you open the door you'd know wither or not to cock your gun or give them help.

Yeah, stories like this and watching the news have made me more judgmental and cynical about strangers around the house.

China has a very "unique" method of rehab for many types of criminals.

(quoted from post at 07:46:05 04/04/11) I'm just pointing out locking people up without rehabilitating them doesn't fix anything.

Click to expand...

How do you "rehabilitate" someone? Group therapy? Shock treatment? Pharmaceuticals? Brain surgery?

Pretty much anything you can think of is illegal by the 8th amendment. If being sent to bed with no dinner and no TV is considered cruel and unusual punishment, how do you think you're going to get away with any sort of rehabilitation?

wow thats scary stuff.Im glad I have two big black LOUD dogs anyone comes in the driveway the baying of the hounds is the first thing they will hear I think that is a Big deterrant dirtballs do not like big loud dogs with big teeth

Some university educated brainiacs come on here and plaster pictures of all their machinery and details of when and where they are at work.
They brag about their trips they are going to take on an open public forum with an archive.
Keep posting your Darwin award is on its way.
No wonder they have people snooping and stealing. Beggars and pan handlers came 10 times as many when grandpa had this farm.
There were no government handouts and they would come by begging for a potato, an egg or a piece of bread..Grandpa would escort them with a shotgun off the property and if they did not comply--Uncle Frank would fire wildly at them with a pistol as they ran.

You rehabilitate someone by getting them clean of drugs and alcohol, give them a support system to help keep them that way. Then you teach them useful skills to be able to earn a living in society. Then you work to give them some self-esteem. Does it work? The jury is still out on that one. But the alternative for civilized society is just to lock them up for a period of time. Where they will spend all their time pumping iron and learning from other crooks. The end result of this is smarter and stronger criminals.

Any amount of success at rehabilitating criminals is better than the alternative.

You must be a way more trusting family than mine. there is NOOOO way I or my wife would ever let a stranger hop in the car with us to take to town. I know it sounds mean but those days are over years ago. We would lend a phone or place a call but that's it. I once picked up a hitch hiker in about 85 during the night and after words couldn't believe what I was doing. Never again. No, sadly times have changed.

When we lived in another town about 7 years ago, a nice looking young man came to the door, said he was the neighbor's son, tried their house, they were not home and needed $50 right away. I asked him a couple questions about his parents, and he did not answer them correctly. I told him I'd go get the $50, and came back with my shotgun. He went away with no trouble. I can't imagine who he was, but when I asked the neighbors they did not have a son.