Privacy

I keep to myself most often than not and allow only a few to come a few inches near my personal bubble. I don't enjoy crowded spaces unless I'm surrounded by several girls from the mansion of Hugh Hefner. And when I'm at home, I expect my privacy to be respected - even my mom doesn't have all the keys to the condo.

On December 9, between 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. my personal space, the privacy that I've been protecting has been desecrated.

I just finished watching a tv show in my macbook pro when I decided to finally take a bath, go to Starbucks and have my usual sunday night coffee. That didn't happen, of course. A few hours later, I found myself talking to the local police and some investigators while their men search the house for fingerprints. It looked like watching CSI, but to be seeing it from the point of view of one of the actors is pushing it, really.

Anyway, as I went out of the room I saw my football boots on top of the counter and the main door was ajar. Quickly, I rushed out - not thinking that the miscreants may still be around - and saw the window leading to another rest room inside my house had been broken. The sliding panels and the steel grills had been removed.

I found myself shouting at the top of my lungs. I had no problem there, I was in the choir for so many years - my voice echoed throughout the building and the tenants of my building quickly rushed to my aid. I called up my mom and sis to inform them of what had happened and called my partners telling them that I might not be able to go to one of our meetings.

While my neighbors gathered outside my house, I quickly took a glance at what had been missing from the house. I lost four thousand pesos, my SSS and driver's license that were stuck in between the money clip. My house keys were taken as well, including one credit card and one ATM card, which I immediately canceled. My PSP was taken as well. Thank God I didn't leave my mobile nor my newly-acquired iPod Touch! But the worst of all (really, this was the one that pissed me off) they also got a ceramic bowl with all the coins that I didn't want to keep in my pockets! I don't even know how much the coins are worth, probably five hundred pesos or more even, but that thing is just way too heavy. Sheesh. What a bunch of idiots. There are so many things one can get from my place and then they get that instead.

Good thing I didn't decide to go out of the room when all of that happened. I wouldn't know what I would've done. Throw a chair at them? Go get the short and dull samurai sword hanging behind the door and see how much blood comes out of them? Scream like a girl? Hell, I'm just smiling now because my life has been spared.

But to think that they got so near to me ...

Now, I'm already thinking about packing up my bags and going to my mom's house for the remainder of the year. It's going to be moving out day soon. It's also a good thing that we've already made the last payment for the condo. I'm thinking of selling it quick and get to a much safer place. I don't know how long that will take but as long as I'm safe - that's all that matters.

I can't sleep now and for the first time it's not the coffee. In fact, at the time that I'm writing this, I can smell the full roast of hazelnut beans coming from my coffee machine. Thank God they didn't think about stealing that!

I'm fine. But this is one of those nights that I truly feel that I'm alone.