My first attempted robbery.

So, first off, since this is likely the first my mom will hear of this since I know she checks my blog at work where I can't call her, I AM FINE! But last night two men tried to break into my apartment while I slept.

Around 11:15pm I was woken by a sound that somehow, even groggy and coming out of sleep, I knew was the sound of a knife cutting through the screening on the French doors of my bedroom. I snapped my head up from the pillow and saw two men holding flashlights. I actually said, "What the hell...?" under my breath before my brain finally got with the program and realized, hey, maybe you should scream? So I did. Really, really loud. And they bolted like frightened deer.

That's about as exciting as it gets, actually. I screamed, they ran, and then I called Ross security and talked to a very nice guy named Vernon while I gave him directions out to my place. He arrived within 10 minutes, but due to the thick, tall plants on the property he didn't feel safe getting out of the vehicle until the police (and therefore, guns) arrived. Had I needed him to, he assured me he'd come running. But with me safely locked in my apartment there was no need for him to risk his safety. So we just chatted about how he's never attended a Mr. Ross since he started working for security two years ago, and whether we'd be watching the presidential inauguration tomorrow.

I should mention, I have no power at the villa right now. A wire burnt out somewhere on the property and so the entire property is pitch black. We have electricians coming out at 8am today to start work, but unfortunately today was not yesterday and I think that's why last night happened. I really do think they didn't believe anyone was home. The moment I screamed they ran like hell. I think I scared them almost as badly as they scared me.

I have to say, Ross security and the local police were there quickly, they did a walk through of the property to make sure no one was still hiding anywhere, they took my statement, they told me they'd be patrolling the area for the rest of the night, and then I received two more phone calls (one at 1am and one at 6am) checking on me to make sure I was still okay. This morning when I checked my email I had one waiting from the Ross off-campus housing coordinator checking to make sure I was okay. Ross definitely handled this one very well and I'm grateful.

Anyway, yeah. That sucked. It was scary. It won't be one of my fondest memories ever. I am pleased with the way I handled it, as they always say, you never know what you'll do until you're in a situation. Well, I screamed and immediately phoned the police and then sat with my mace and a knife in front of me on the sofa while I waited for help to get there, so I think I did pretty well.