Some months ago, my brother (in south Manchester) had his front door broken down by three thugs at one in the morning. They ran upstairs, by which time my brother confronted them on the landing. They demanded “Where’s your f***in’ car keys”. His son came “all brave” out of his bedroom door, and my brother, very sensibly, pushed him back in and wouldn’t let him and at the same time his missus found the keys (kept in the bedroom for security?) and threw them at these three who immediately (thank God) turned around and left - in his nearly new Audi A4 Quattro.
Police later said this was the third such crime that very night, and that you should never park a high performance car on your driveway at night.
It seems the insurance companies and car manufacturers have done us no favours by making cars virtually unstealable without the keys. These scum, who used to break a lock and ‘hot-wire’ (whatever that is?) it will nowadays mug you or break in to your house and, one way or another, take your keys from you.
Consequentially, we are all in much greater physical danger of having a “one to one” with a thug nowadays, than in the past.
I think that only a fool would resist – after all it’s only a lump of metal.
In my brother’s case, although he was a ‘brawler’ in his youth and well able to look after himself, he had the good sense just hand over the keys.
I can’t think of anything more terrifying than being awoken by hyped-up (drugged-up?) thugs on your landing (you half asleep in your pyjamas, with wife there and the children in the other bedrooms).
It could soon be the same with credit cards, as the finance companies make it more difficult to clone cards or to use stolen ones. Thieves are going to get their ‘drug money’ one way or another, and if the card’s no use without its owner, then they’ll take the owner!!! – and probably start abducting people and marching them to the cash point.
So that’s my point…. The sad irony that the more secure they make our cars, cards and homes, the more physically at risk we all are.
Discuss…….(and take care!)
Doug
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