We had a bit of excitement in the burbs last weekend. I was having a nap when I was woken by a message from my neighbour. They thought their house had been burgled, and as they were overseas, they asked if I could check it out.
I carefully selected a weapon – an alloy pole that would hurt, but not cause too much damage to me or the perpetrator.
By the time I arrived, the neighbour’s dad and another neighbour were already there, but there was no burglar and no sign of a break-in.
Technology is a wonderful thing – even if it is beyond me. I learned their security system had alerted them and let them speak to the intruder, who apparently legged it. Shortly afterwards, I received a photo and video of what had happened, so I drove around looking for the bloke, with no idea what I would do if I found him.
No luck. So, I decided to go around the street and chat with the other residents, showing them the footage. “He looks dodgy. He’s probably breaking into other people’s homes as we speak.” I was on a roll.
After looking at the photo a few more times, I had the strange feeling I may have known this dodgy-looking bloke and wondered if it could be a young man from the next street back. I messaged his dad. He came straight back to me with a yes. He said he would find out more.
Now here is the thing: I have had this young man work for me, I have patrolled with him and his family at the surf club. I just hadn’t recognised him initially. Instead, I thought he had committed the crime of the century, and as a result, had spent half my afternoon trying to solve that crime.
It turned out the so-called burglar had kicked a ball over the fence. When he went to retrieve it, the alarm sounded and a voice over the speaker challenged him. He panicked, decided the ball could fend for itself and bolted.
After an exhausting afternoon, I sat down with a cup of tea and marvelled at how people on the other side of the world could watch and even speak to someone at their home. I then had my second epiphany of the day – if they had seen that, chances are they had also witnessed the times I had pulled up in their driveway to wash the bat poo off my car with their hose. Oops.
