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31 March 2018



‘SHAMELESS BURGLAR HELPED HIMSELF TO FOOD AND DRINK’

That was a comment seen in the local newspaper which reminded me of an incident that occurred when I was a young child.

It was war time, which meant that Mom and Dad had to work. I was farmed out with family friends for most of the war years but things happened that my mother talked about for many years.

Today the above headline caught my attention and reminded me of something that was talked about for years.

The house, of course, was empty with everyone working or being farmed out, which gave a burglar a wonderful opportunity to help himself to a change of clothes. My Dad’s clothes, naturally.

Mom came back from work to find what she called ‘a proper cheek’. That’s not what I would have called it, but then I was too young to give an opinion.

The scene: the lounge. On the armchair was a dirty pair of trousers and a ragged jacket, placed carefully with its sleeves on the arms of the chair as if for all the world someone was sitting there. On the floor was a pair of well-worn shoes placed in the position of someone sitting there. On the seat of the chair was a note on which was scrawled … THANK YOU!

How about that for nerve? A guy breaks into a house and promptly steals my Dad’s clothes, leaving his own for someone else to discard. Nothing else was stolen.

It happened almost eighty years ago and, of course, the identity of the scruffy but well-mannered guy was never discovered. 

10 comments:

  1. He paid for those clothes, which he surely needed, with a good story that has held up for so many years.

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  2. OMG Valerie, that is HILARIOUS!!!! What cracked me up the most was the THANK YOU note he left. At least he was a polite thief - ha!

    And I LOVE the second cartoon down, the one about "smell the bouquet...savour the flavor..." Priceless!

    Thanks for the morning laughs, my friend!

    And Happy Easter to you!

    X

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  3. Ron, I think that note said a lot for the guy's character. I guess he had a decent side to him.

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  4. There is nothing like cheek. I was gobsmacked with his audacity. I did smile though. Thanks for telling us your tale!

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  6. Dave, I don't think the story will ever be forgotten, certainly by me.

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  7. That certainly wouldn't happen these days. Cute story.

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  8. Well, I never! The only thing that ever happened to us was finding one of the neighborhood kids had come into our house, helped himself to a glass of milk and a sandwich. I had left the door open expecting son to come home any second and when I heard the noise in the kitchen, thought it was him. The neighborhood kid had come home and found mom not at home and the door locked. We had a little chat :)

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  9. Hi Denise, your little chat with the boy is amusing but it was good to nip the 'crime' in the bud. I wonder what he thought about himself in later years. My parents had a 'thank you' note which made me think the guy who robbed Dad of some clothes had been desperate.

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