Okay, now that you've all got me thinking about it, I thought I would try to count the number of times I've been ripped off. What occurred to me is that when I was trying to start at the beginning, I realized I was never ripped off for the 24 years I lived in Alberta, Canada. I've been in Vancouver 7 years and have been robbed over two dozen times.

I lived in a shared house with five people. The woman that ran the house had a live in boyfriend who had a crack addiction. I wondered why there was a padlock on the bottom of my door and why the woman told me to lock it, even if I was just using the washroom.

Vancouver had a 6-month long bus strike, so my mom gave me a bike. The man stole it 3 days after I got it, so I had to walk to work and back everyday. I lost my temper with the woman for letting him live there, so she kicked me out. Try looking for an apartment with zero transportation! By the time I gave up, she said I could stay and her thief boyfriend had stolen me a new bike. It was bad karma, but I still ride that bike today.

Anyway, that man literally would take anything that wasn't nailed down, so over the months I lived there, I lost about $500, not to mention he would eat all my food and all my cans of soup started going missing. He even cut through the padlock on my door once and took my computer. It was a terrible way to live, but I was broke and it was almost impossible to find an apartment during that bus strike.

I was working as a waitress at the time and one of my co-workers admitted that she was just beating a crack addiction as well. She was trying to maintain her sobriety. Her and I developed a bond and I made the mistake of trusting her. I kept a $300 float in a mug in the coffee area. One day at the end of the shift, all that was left was a penny. She denied it.

At that same restaurant, I noticed some of my customers weren't leaving tips. One day I discovered the cook sneaking out of the kitchen and stealing my tips.

I had another friend who unfortunately became addicted to heroin. While I was still trying to help her and maintain the friendship, she began taking things like clothes and money.

At my current job, I had kept a pair of shoes in my filing cabinet. I loved the shoes but they gave me blisters. One day I noticed they were just gone. My petty cash float also started to be missing money while a certain person still worked with the company.

Most recently we traveled to Rome and rented an apartment. One day we came in and found the place ransacked. My suitcase had been dumped out on the bed, all the closets emptied and the fridge left open. Luckily they left our passports but used my backpack to cart away my dad's laptop.

Am I paranoid? You bet! I've learned it just doesn't pay to trust anyone in Vancouver. (and that theft is usually because of addiction) Sure, there are people in my life I trust %100, but it's always best to lock valuables away, and like Lu says, not get too attached to physical possessions. I know my bike may get stolen again b/c that's it's karma, but that's ok.

Heather

Thanks guys ... now that we've made some phone calls to get the ball rolling on undoing the physical damage, I'm feeling better. I really couldn't care less about the TV ... I just don't like to think of someone busting their way into my house. At least they didn't have enough time to go through anything more personal :)

I gotta admit, the whole way home on the skytrain this afternoon I was looking at people and thinking 'are you a punk?' I told Steve that and we had a good laugh! I need to remember not all people are punks - just a handful. And now, after the dust has sort of settled, we're looking at it as a good opportunity to replace the front door - I never liked the old one anyways.

Wow, Robyn! Sorry to hear this happened.

There's no point in living in fear. Try to center and meditate. That may be the craziest thing right now to you, but it will help you get some sleep at night.

Right now is usually the worst time of the year for robberies. Just be happy they took your stuff when you weren't home. Imagine what it would have been like if you were at home!

And just remember...it's just material possessions. They can always be replaced.

I understand that feeling of being violated in your own safe haven, which was made unsafe by the robber(s). It'll get better as the days go by.

BIG HUG!

MK