dazed and confused in vancouver

This is a post specifically for those of you living in res, but it’s a good lesson for everyone.  Everything I write here is true because it just happened last night.

Last night, I invited some friends over for a party because it’s Friday night of the second week of the second term of my second year, so that’s what we do, you know?  So anyways, people were going in and out all night and I was trying my best to make sure that the door stayed locked, but of course, at some points, it wound up being unlocked.

At one point around 11 p.m., I went to the upstairs washroom to get a roll of toilet paper and use the washroom.  On my way up the stairs, I noticed that one of my roommate’s doors was open and I could see the flashing VAIO sign on her laptop which was on her bed.  In my house, most of our doors are left unlocked when we’re in the house, as she had just gone downstairs to say goodnight to one of my other roommates and had wound up staying to chat for a while.  When I left the washroom, I didn’t notice whether or not the laptop was still there, as I didn’t think anything of it.

About 30 minutes later, my roommates came downstairs, one of them in tears, because the laptop had disappeared.

…

Yeah, total shock and disbelief.

My two roommates and I went upstairs to look for it, but it was most definitely gone.  A laptop worth around a grand with dozens of papers, assignments, photographs, memories was gone.  My roommates were quick to assure me that they didn’t think it was any of my friends who had taken it, but I went downstairs to compile a list of the names and phone numbers of everyone who was there so I could call and see if anyone had seen anyone they didn’t recognize.

My roommates said that they had been sitting in the downstairs bedroom (the laptop was stolen out of the other one) and heard someone knock on the door.  They called for the person to come in, but the door didn’t open and no-one answered.  They figured that it was one of my slightly intoxicated friends, and didn’t think anything of it, but later, one of my roommates said that last year, a friend of her’s in Totem Park had their laptop stolen in a similar way.  The thief knocked on all the doors and tried the handles of the rooms that didn’t answer.

After about half an hour of calling the police and the Fairview Crescent front desk, one of my roommates found the laptop stuffed into a box near the top of the stairs.  There’s no way that my roommate put it there, so all we can figure is that someone tried to steal it but got interrupted, decided to ditch it and left.  With the heavy traffic going in and out of my house last night, someone probably just let themselves in knowing that no-one would question the door opening and closing.

I’m so glad that it turned up in the end, but god, can you say scary?

Today, I will be installing my laptop lock and watching to make sure all the doors are locked all the time.  Let this be a word of warning to you all who live in res, there are thieves around and they will let themselves into your houses.  Please be careful, everyone.