How do you cope if something of sentimental value was stolen from you?

6pack

6pack

ex-Mod
I had a good set of imported tools from Germany i got from my late uncle. I was doing some work in my house and an adjustable spanner and screwdriver got stolen by someone who came in while the door was open. There were a lot of neighbours who came to talk and went so no idea who the slippery handed guy was. **** this thieving mentality some people have. ****ers have no shame imo.

So how do you cope with such a loss?
Physically: I tried searching Amazon, Flipkart etc for imported tools and there are none. I'll end up buying a local brand but i want to do something to my tools so that any dumbass thinking of stealing it should think twice. Any ideas? Is there a way to sketch my name on tools?

Mentally: I'm cursing the thief with bad luck. Hope he slips on a banana peel and falls down one day and steps in dog poo the next day.
 
Most people who have something of sentimental value don't keep it out in the open or use it daily. They generally store them in safe places. I'd advise you to do that as well.
On the other hand install home security cameras everywhere if you do wanna keep them out in the open and have such people in & out out your house regularly. They'll think twice to steal from you then.
 
I can certainly understand your emotional feeling here & it was a screwdriver which is in regular use in your house.

As pointed, such stuff should be kept in a safe closet or place. I have many such stuff gifted, given or ordered from overseas by family and friends but all hidden from everyone esp. the prying world incl few family members. Its a valuable treasure for me as valuable as someones life or worlds any costliest item.
I hardly ever see them, forget the outer world. Its my inner satisfaction and peace that it safe with me and still as brand as new. Will cherish these treasures forever...
And no, those aren't any gold or diamonds but regular stuff or objects of desire which I can use regularly otherwise but I fear it might get damaged, lost, stolen or go kaput etc. and it will hurt me a lot emotionally so I better not use them. I manage to see my stuff once a while in a year or two, smile at them and back to hiding them in their safest place!

Same thing happened with us 10 yrs ago when we were shifting our house. Our main door was open as we were selling old stuff etc. and had called few people who were interested in taking it.
Due to all mess around, there were even old clothes to be given to the needy and just aside there were my moms most premium costly saress she was arranging to be packed in a suitcase and in all this even few of them got stolen when just for a very short-while everyone were inside in other rooms. Sarees gifted by my dad and mausi and aunts while others purchased from touring kashmir, assam and south etc.

My mom still recalls that incident and regrets! Emotional bond and memories attached..
 
You can use a dremel or a dremel-clone rotary tool to etch your name on metal. Alternatively you can also try a hardened steel alphabet punch set. But honestly having a name on an item will not deter most thieves. It just helps with claiming after recovery.

As far as coping with loss goes, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross formally defined the five stages of grief as: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. This was in the context of death, but seems to hold true for any grief or loss; you will go through some or all of these stages in this order, until finally you come to terms with the fact the item is permanently gone.

In this entire episode the chief point to note was that a stranger was able to enter your home, your castle, your own realm, unnoticed and undetected. Is this not an unnerving situation? Hopefully the takeaway here will be to improve your general security and monitoring measures. Tools can possibly be obtained again, but your house does contain some un-replaceables as well.
 
Yes dude, even I'm in anguish. But moping isn't going to help one bit now. So I'll be actively trying to protect my house from such people in future. Been looking at cctv systems on Amazon from hours.
 
6pack said:
I had a good set of imported tools from Germany i got from my late uncle. I was doing some work in my house and an adjustable spanner and screwdriver got stolen by someone who came in while the door was open. There were a lot of neighbours who came to talk and went so no idea who the slippery handed guy was. **** this thieving mentality some people have. ****ers have no shame imo.

So how do you cope with such a loss?
Physically: I tried searching Amazon, Flipkart etc for imported tools and there are none. I'll end up buying a local brand but i want to do something to my tools so that any dumbass thinking of stealing it should think twice. Any ideas? Is there a way to sketch my name on tools?

Mentally: I'm cursing the thief with bad luck. Hope he slips on a banana peel and falls down one day and steps in dog poo the next day.
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Loss of anything important takes time to heal. Give it time and it will work out.
Maybe look for it in a German/Euro site and you find it. Expensive but can help.
 
I have tools stolen from regular India made tools to imported ones. Obviously it sucks, when the really good tool is stolen. I had a screwdriver stolen with only the bits and comfy grip(handle) with me, it took 10 years to find another suitable screwdriver that had a similar design, since the ease at which you could fasten screws due to the comfortable handle and grip means, one could apply more torque, then the regular screw drivers sold commonly in India. Until I found this replacement each time I looked at the grip of the stolen screw driver, I used to feel sad and angry.

I have also had ladders stolen. Many of other made in India tools that my friends and neighbors borrow are rarely returned back. I have lost drill bits and atleast a dozen hand tools due to this.

For the most expensive tools I make sure its the first tool to be removed from the work area, after the work has been finished. The reason why I have security cameras is mainly due to the tools, I have lakhs worth of tools at my house car garage. Thieves will get the mother load of tools, if they strike.

Having seen many videos of people stealing packages, In my house they leave the packages inside the compound, no one is allowed to enter the gate, since covid. So far no one has yet stolen these packages, thats also the reason why I bought a PTZ camera with auto tracking, where any person approching the gate or walking on the foot path is actively tracked by the camera, which is enough to spook them away.
 
6pack said:
Yes dude, even I'm in anguish. But moping isn't going to help one bit now. So I'll be actively trying to protect my house from such people in future. Been looking at cctv systems on Amazon from hours.
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I have had tools disappear by workers I regularly employ so I make a note of what I give them and check when they leave. Otherwise, they walk off with them.

Closest I've come to this is losing my wallet on a rainy Saturday evening on a busy street. Retraced my steps ten minutes later and it was nowhere to be seen. Suffice it to say I had a bad evening. The wallet was a gift many years ago and I kept it even though it's quite worn out.

The next morning I got a call from a friend who said he had been contacted by someone who found my wallet. His business card was in my wallet. Called them up and arranged a meeting in the afternoon. But I had to prove I was the rightful owner which I did by reciting my pan number from memory.

Got the wallet back in less than 24h with nothing missing. :oops:

No question of any reward. They said it was unnecessary. I thought I lived in a good city if people behave like this. Then years later I got a WhatsApp from the guy who remembered me as he had restored his phone and saw my contact. After a bit of chat, I learnt he wasn't a local but from Nellore and just so happened to be visiting Bangalore that weekend.

The lesson here is to put your contact details in your wallet or on your lock screen for a phone with the phone icon available on the lock screen so people can call you. Odds are they will.
 
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blr_p said:
The lesson here is to put your contact details in your wallet or on your lock screen for a phone with the phone icon available on the lock screen so people can call you. Odds are they will.
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Yeah, esp. in todays world when stuff can be tracked easily its not easy to steal stuff. For wallets, people are smart enough to disable their banking cards and for aadhar/pan etc. just a local police visit fir will do. Phones, easy to track esp. when 90%+ public use their phones on default configurations (loc/bt/wifi/etc. everything on) so one can track from his google a/c and perform remote erase or at least track it and report to the cops.
As for contact details on lock screen, would suggest to put nos. of you dad/brother or some male from your family or a friend.
 
blr_p said:
The next morning I got a call from a friend who said he had been contacted by someone who found my wallet. Had his business card in my wallet. Called them up and arranged a meeting in the afternoon. Got the wallet back in less than 24h with nothing missing :oops:
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Thats amazing, My brother had a similar incident when his 10th mark sheet was lost and he was super upset about it, after couple of months a guy came to our house and asked for my brother. He asked my brother if he lost something? Turned out the guy was sorting old papers at his workplace and saw the marksheet, so he went to the school but didn't gave the marksheet to them as school would charge money for original marksheet, He came to the house instead and handed only to my brother. Its been several years but we still remember such act of kindness we can't repay with money. Though we met him at a showroom when we were looking for a bike, wish I wanted Honda else would have purchased from him.
 
kartikoli said:
Thats amazing, My brother had a similar incident when his 10th mark sheet was lost and he was super upset about it, after couple of months a guy came to our house and asked for my brother. He asked my brother if he lost something? Turned out the guy was sorting old papers at his workplace and saw the marksheet, so he went to the school but didn't gave the marksheet to them as school would charge money for original marksheet, He came to the house instead and handed only to my brother. Its been several years but we still remember such act of kindness we can't repay with money. Though we met him at a showroom when we were looking for a bike, wish I wanted Honda else would have purchased from him.
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How did he get your address? that info isn't usually on a marks sheet is it? I doubt the school would have given him your address either.
 
blr_p said:
How did he get your address? that info isn't usually on a marks sheet is it? I doubt the school would have given him your address either.
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He got the address from school, I was a college captain so was quite popular also the principle was my best friend brother so they knew me very well.

P.S. My username consist of my 2 best friends (Kartik C and S Oli) so I joined them.
 
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