This is a shocking phone call to get at any time, but we felt that our place was pretty secure. We have a reinforced, armored door, double glazed or "effraction" (non-breaking) windows. Evidently it's not enough if someone targets the place for whatever reason.
Our door looked like this:
And, it couldn't be opened, it was jammed shut so we had no idea for more than 24 hours if our apartment had been ransacked or not. Unfortunately, this all happened on Sunday (does anything ever happen Monday through Friday from 9 to 5?) during a huge snowstorm so not much could be done until Monday morning. We agreed to leave the door as it was, hoping that no one else would see it in this state, since it was partially open.
We spent Sunday morning calling our insurance company (not there) our syndic (ditto), a trusted worker (he answered), and emailed everyone. Barbara, who watches our apartment, was wonderful, running from the police station, getting bids for the work and keeping us in the loop. Then we had to wait.
With nine hours time difference, we knew that our night's sleep would be interrupted as Paris came to life and it was. But, it was worth it.
By noon our time, the locksmith was working on the door, the insurance had agreed to pay and the police station would release the report for insurance purposes.
Is there a lesson in all of this?
While we try to be vigilant, we don't want it to run/ruin our lives. The door held the bad guys off long enough that the only casualty was the door, they didn't get in. Even if they had, we have very little of value inside -- an eight year old TV and stereo, the cables for our computers that aren't in the apartment, some winter clothes. Not worth the hard work of taking a crow-bar to our door, guys! Next time, try our rich neighbors with the antiques and the paintings, the jewelry and maybe even some cash!
We feel lucky that it wasn't worse. And upon our return, we will install more security features for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment