ROBBED !!!! By a “neighbour”.

YES! In hindsight I shouldn’t have done what I did letting a stranger in – BUT I stay on the top floor of a supposedly SECURE apartment block!

If a neighbour wants a cup of sugar, do I SLAM the door in their face?

Would you have done ANY differently?

So I was on a conference call around 5pm today on Skype – me at home, a client in china etc. I was focusing pretty hard on the conversation.

I looked at my door, and through the glass, saw someone standing outside, but didn’t think anything of it.

A few seconds later, the person knocked on my door. It was about 5pm and I had got home about an hour ago, and I was thinking of going to gym, so hadn’t locked the gate.

Anyway, I didn’t really think much of it, so picked up my laptop, as I didn’t want to miss the conversation, and with my headset on, opened the door.

This girl was standing outside, and in 5 seconds told me that she was visiting her sister at the end of the passage, and her sister wasn’t home, and could she use the bathroom quick. She looked like any other person – mid 20’s, jeans, tshirt, Indian girl…didn’t really give it a 2^nd thought…

I said sure, and went back to the couch to carry on the conversation.

2 minutes later the bathroom door opened, and she asked me if she could use the towel to dry her hands.

Still busy on the conversation I said sure.

Then she stood at my bar, and had an empty bottle of water, and asked if she could fill up her bottle.

I was hardly even focusing on her at this stage, as the conversation was pretty indepth, so just shook my head yes.

And then when she finished, she asked if I had a pen as she wanted to write her sister a note. I waved her to the 2^nd bedroom to get a pen.

My conversation ended at about the same time she had finished writing the note, and I asked her a few questions. What is her sisters name etc…

She said thanks and left.

After she left, about 3 minutes later, I suddenly had an uneasy feeling that something wasn’t right

I suddenly remembered that I knew who lived at the end of the passage, and it wasn’t an Indian girl – it was a middle aged white guy. I had seen him a few months ago, but now that I’m thinking about it, I actually saw him earlier this week.

My first thought was where is my phone. I couldn’t see where I left it, so phoned it from my landline and it was on voicemail. At this stage I had the feeling something had gone wrong. I started looking for my wallet and couldn’t find it either.

But I kept saying to myself “you’re being stupid” – your phone and wallet are probably in the other room, or someplace else. Nevertheless, I ran to the top of the stairs, and there was a slip of paper that I assumed she had written on. Except this piece of paper was blank, so if it was the paper she was writing on, she was just pretending.

I ran down the stairs, and at the corner of my block, 2 of the residents were chatting. I asked them if they had seen the girl, and they had about 10 minutes earlier “stroll past down the road”. I said I thought I had just been robbed, and one of them said they thought the girl had acted very suspiciously. The resident had got out at the third floor, and the girl was standing there, and made up some story which didn’t sound convincing.

Anyway, I was barefoot, but thought I’d try find her – I ended up running to the promenade, didn’t spot anyone resembling her, and hobbled home, coz running on a tarred road wasn’t the best thing for my “always in shoes” feet. I now have about 5 massive blisters on each foot – bloody sore!!! I woke up this morning, and CAN’T WALK – my feet are RUINED.

So now I’ve had the cops at my place taking reports, have cancelled my credit cards, and my sim card, and am looking forward to spending tomorrow trying to get a temporary drivers license, as I leave for jhb on Tuesday, and need it to hire a car.

I’m still shocked that it all happened.

My sister spent an hour telling me how stupid I am letting strangers into my place.

And in hindsight, I shouldn’t have let anyone in, and if I did, should have kept a CLOSE watch!

BUT in the situation, if someone looks trusting, it’s easy to let your guard down – WARNING – DON’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by the way, my good friend Max is involved in a website called SA Rocks about all the GOOD in South Africa. I guess i’ll go read it before stepping out to remind me…