Wild Ithaca

Well, it seems like since I moved here, the calm town became very wild. There were 3(!) crime instances here in the last two and a half months. However, even when the crime does happen, it is still not very ordinary… Here are two examples from the yesterday's "crime alert" email:

"The Ithaca Police Department is investigating an incident reported to their agency on October 19, 2006, at approximately 5:30 am.
The incident reportedly occurred in the 400 block of E. Seneca St., approximately two hours before the report was made to police. An unknown subject knocked on a resident's door, once the resident opened the door, several masked intruders forced their way into the apartment and demanded money and marijuana. One of the intruders was armed with what appeared to be a rifle or shotgun. The resident reportedly surrendered money and marijuana to the intruders, who then fled."

Maybe that is me, but I find the mere mentioning of the resident surrendering marijuana to the intruders, as part of a police report, amusing. It is ok to hold an armored-robbery-worthy stock of marijuana at home, but stealing it is a crime… OK... But wait! Here is another one:

"The Ithaca Police Department is investigating a trespass complaint that occurred on College Avenue on October 15, 2006. The incident occurred at approximately 5:30 am but was not reported to the police until approximately 10:30 am. A female resident reported that she was awakened by a subject who reportedly was removing her bedroom covers from her. The subject reportedly fled the room when the resident was awakened. The resident fell back asleep. A few minutes later, the female resident was again awakened, by the same subject turning a light on in her room. The intruder again fled when the resident was awakened this second time. The victim described the intruder as an Asian male, in his 20s, wearing a light colored shirt and blue jeans."

And I keep on asking myself: What would you do after being woken up by a stranger trying to pull off your covers? Would you go and check your house? Would you check your locks? Would you call the police? Or maybe just a friend? No, no, no, no!!!! Usually people just turn on the other side and keep on sleeping. That's normal. Happens every day… Unless of course someone turns on the lights - that's wrong!