I was robbed

Chris,

You must really live in a glass house in la la land if you have only put your foot in your mouth once or twice !!!!!!!!!

Must agree however on the comment by Galoot about Australia.

It has nothing to do with the past, rather the present times we all live in.

I would say it has more to do with current values and total lack of moral responsibility that permeate our society and more often than not the type of people landing on western shores today.

Cheers, RG.

Sorry, what are you trying to say ?

No, we just let them loose, because we can't house them as the prisons are full !!!!!

I'm sure Galoot meant it in good humour, which is often in poor taste or it wouldn't be thought provokingly funny.

However I feel that when an otherwise honest person is reduced to stealing and or homelessness it is due to our failing as a society to be our brothers keepers.

If our safety net wasn't full of holes, they wouldn't be there.

(as an aside note if employers can make drug testing mandatory for employees to maintain job elegability, why can't social services do the same? the guy who earned his money to pay taxes to support the guy on social services who doesn't have to submit... and if the guy who is on social services can get drugs, did he not just defraud the taxpayer (and or his own children) to buy the drugs?)

oh well, back on subject kudos to the other post about using your camera to document your valuables for insurance purposes!

Well said (in your first and second post) Don and excellent advice as to how not to let the perpetrators continue to make you more of a victim. But WOW. I cannot believe some of the reactions expressed here as to the extent of retaliation desired for the loss of some "stuff", from amputation to murder.

Over the years I have had several break-ins at my retail store and once into my home. Never did I have the "violated" sensation a lot of people describe. Truthfully it always felt more like a long expected inconvenience. Insurance has always been fair to me and from my past experiences here are a few tips for you Clarky.

1. Don't lie about what you lost. The adjusters are experts at seeing through that and you will usually lose in the end.
2. Find out the rules for replacement before you blurt out what you would like to do. For example, do I get full replacement value if I don't re-buy the equivalent model. Can I lump my whole claim to buy one fantastic camera?
3. Get all your receipts, serial numbers, police file # etc. ready before the insurance adjuster arrives. That saves at least a week or two of delay settling your claim. (Boxes and/or instruction manuals can also work as proof of ownership.)
4. Do your research to prove the value at today's prices. I was able to parlay my 20 year old Minolta equipment into the latest Pentax model and I turned my 10 year old crappy camcorder into a couple of nice lenses.
5. Expect to be broken into again like what happened to McBrian. They usually wait until you have settled your claim and have bought your brand new stuff. Beef up your security.
6. Never leave your precious exposed memory cards etc in your camera. EXPECT it to be stolen, that is just how it is today.
7. Read Don's first post again but skip #A! Do you really want your old stuff back again or would you rather brand new stuff? Do you really want to go to court?
8. Deal with the inconvenience and for your whole family's sake... move on and enjoy your new stuff .

Hope that helps you.

Drew

Thank you.
If you need further explanation of "A)" here it is....
I grew up in some very bad neighbourhoods and grew up poor.
If word goes out on some mean streets that you are a easy target...you'll wind up with absolutely nothing.....and worse....
we are to some degree products of our environments, but we always have free will to choose better than we are taught....

Clarky, I was very sorry to hear what happened to you and I hope you have felt some encouragement with all the support that has been offered here.

Well I've not been in here for a few days due to the old overworked and underpaid scenario, I thought I would log on and cheer myself up and the first post that catches my eye is Clarkys .

All I can say is "ditto" to most of the previous replys then add my own two penneth and say I am really gutted for you.

I dont know what the judicial system is like down under but I sure hope its a lot better than ours, In the UK the scumbag would probably get a slap on the wrist and then given compensation cos' he cut himself on your broken glass.

I'm just off to bed, but I'll raise a glass to Western civilisation, too.

G

Problem is criminals are not civilized.

After some of the posts on this thread, why would anyone be surprised that human garbage is alive and well. They know how some among us tick and take full advantage of that weakness.

Some items can never be replaced, so to just brush it off as insurance will pay, is a cop out.

Cheers,

RG.

Exactly I am so fed up with cop outs like the insurance will pay. Pathetic that is. Why on earth does one just have to shrug one's shoulders like that. If you work hard and earn a decent living, then one expects to keep what you pay for, instead of some bastard taking what is not his. I still say there is a lot to be said for amputation. The British system is the other way now, they don't want to offend the human rights of the criminal and to hell with your human rights.

Mind you under the present government what can you expect?

I understand how you guys feel, but ask you to reason it out.
Not all cops are honest. Sometimes they lie. Sometimes they have informants they get off with no charges or legal technicalities in return for favors, sometimes they just make honest mistakes.....

How would you feel if you got wrongfully accused, then wrongfully convicted, had your hand amputated, then got exonerated?

No that argument does not wash either. If you want to have a decent society, then you have to have deterrents that work. Hanging for murder, and jails with bread and water and no comfort for the inmates. This would be a very good start to begin to redress the balance that has certainly been lost in the UK. Ask any normally adjusted person and they will tell you the same, the balance between good and evil is heavily weighted now against the good. Of course some will die innocent, give me that any day to civilized society being wiped out, which is the direction it is going.

You are right thought not all cops are honest. Neither are the judges and juries.

Bringing back capital punishment, and worse, is not going to stop the rot in society. There was no sudden rise in the murder rate when hanging was abolished, and there would be no drop if it were re-introduced.

People commit crimes for a variety of reasons. What is common is that the criminal believes he will get away with it, so penalties are often irrelevant.

In the developed world only one country still clings to capital punishment. Guess which country has the highest murder rate? (Not to mention a very high proportion of church attendance.)

G

So enlighten me, how to stop the rot in society before society collapses?

I did not bring up the insurance issue as the be-all solution to solving the crime problem. It was calm advice directed to Clarky as to how to deal with the loss of his material goods and his possible trauma drawing on the knowledge of my past experiences. Other than that, most of this discussion is not even close to participating in. On the other hand, I certainly am learning a lot about some of the personalities here.

Carry on.

Drew