UPDATE - New mp3otw up, plus I added 'Stereo Thievery: A Lesson In Etiquette' article below!! Please read it.  My car got broken into last night. This is just what my site needed! Content! So, I got home from McCoys at around 2am and went to bed. Nick got up at 7am and left for school. He started driving and noticed his back window was open. He thought this was odd so he made sure no one took anything. They didn't. He then noticed music wasn't playing, and thought, "I don't have a CD with this much dead air". That was when he noticed his deck was gone. He shortly called me and told me his car had been broken into and that I should check mine. I got ready for class, then went out to find my driver's side quarter window smashed out. "Super", I thought. upon inspection, I found that nothing was taken from my car, except my faceplate to my deck. Also, the dashboard panel was trashed (as seen here in fig.1) It has been a busy and fulfilled day of calling glass places and trying to contact JVC. The new glass will cost around $175 and to get a new faceplate, (faceplate *only* mind you, not a whole new deck) the FACEPLATE for my deck costs $195. Well. "Super", I said. That will save me 5 bucks as opposed to buying a new one for $200. ya.
In light of these recent events, I have decided to make two lists. The first is a "how to" for stealing decks. The second, "Stereo Thievery: A lesson in etiquette" Will be published later this spring. There are only a few main points to this portion. The first, is if you can't get what you want, get what you can. They were not able to get my deck out, and so they gave up. This was their downfall. If they only knew that they were merely inches away from eight compact disc's in mint condition. Please note in fig.2 that any thief ranging from the classification from "weak sauce" to "hard thuggin" knows that If you can't steal the deck, steal some other stuff. This will help every novice in his long road to street acceptance. another chapter in my how to, is the one entitled "Bring tools with you: A tool left at home is a deck left in the car." By far, the funniest part of the whole ordeal is that they would have stolen my deck easily, if they only had a certain special tool: A phillips screw driver. My deck doesn't go in the metal casing like most, nope, it just screws onto a metal piece that screws in the deck. With screws. Phillips head screws. Now, I am not a car thief, but I figure if I was, I would bring along with me, somewhere in my arsenal of tools, a freakin screw driver. Because they did not have a screw driver, they decided to just hit the screw with something hard. It is difficult to see, but in this picture (fig.3), there is the bent metal piece from where they hit under the screw. Luckily, Nick (who has already bought and installed a new deck) pointed out that maybe I should take the faceless cd player out of my car, because if not, it would only take someone (perhaps the same someones) under 2 mins to get the rest out of my car, so I did. In conclusion, bring a screwdriver for chrissakes, and if you cant get what you want, at least get something. In this article, I will be discussing various procedures and circumstances to follow to ensure that you will be able to steal one's stereo with confidence, class, and overall kindness. Stereo thievery in the past was a thing of beauty. These days it has become a slop job with no consideration as to proper etiquette. I have a couple of simple rules to follow to help, and share with friends. Lesson #1 - "Ask and You Shall Receive". Now, most thieves have the preconceived notion that people don't like having their stereos stolen. While this may be the case, you can make that same angry, stereoless person a lot happier if you do not cause unnecessary damage to their vehicles windows in any way. This is where my 'ask first' policy comes into play. Have you ever tried asking to steal someones stereo? I'll bet not. You might be surprised at the results this yields. Heres the wording I use and it seems to work most of the time. [After ringing doorbell, tenant open door] "Hi there, sorry to bother you at such a late hour, but my name is [your name], and first of all, I'm not here to sell you anything. Me and my friends are just going around the neighborhood and noticed the stereo in your car. You see, we are Stereo thieves and we were planning on breaking into your car. So why are we at your door you ask? I'll tell you. How much do you think a new window costs? $100, $200, maybe even $300? Well, your absolutely right. Any ordinary thief would have smashed in your window without thinking twice, but thats where the advantage of the 'straight up thuggin' thief's come in. All it takes is a car key and we will be able to steal your stereo with all glass still in tact. Just think about not having to deal with the cost or time that modern window replacement takes. All it takes is a key, and you can even supervise if you'd like. Otherwise, its like you kissing that $200 away. All that being said, I think the choice is obvious." 89% of the time they will give you the keys right then and there. This speech works like a charm and I recommend using it. Now, if the tennant is not home, or doesn't come to the door, it is preferred that you break the least expensive window on the car. While quarter-windows may look cheap, they are more of a specialty part and usually cost more. I always go for the 'ole drivers side door. Easy access to lock, and the least expensive to fix. [A side note, if you happen to make an attempt to sweep off the glass on the seat before you leave, I think you will be pleasantly surprised on how the tenant responds to this. I cant tell you how many e-mails I've received thanking me.] Lesson #2 - "When It Rains, It Pours". This one is quite simple. Now, how much is the average deductible for car insurance? $250, $500? Lets be reasonable and say 500. You probably know the approximate value of the deck your ganking and it is save to say that a window will cost around $250 [if lesson #1 fails only]. Think about this for a second. Lets say the deck is $250 also. That would be a total of $500 in damage, meaning the victim would not get any insurance money [as most insurances don't cover things like CD's]. So whats in it for the victim? NOTHING. This is why I always do the following: Break stuff. Listen, under $1,000 is still a misdemeanor, it is only once you reach $1,000 that it becomes a felony, so why don't you reach just under that 1,000 mark at least. This will benefit the victim in more ways than you think. First off, they will actually get money from their insurance. Second, they will have this money to get better stuff than what they had before. They will already be paying the $500 for a stereo + window, why not give them some spending money. The best way to do this is to break stuff that is in the crappiest of shape. If you see a cracked rear-view mirror, knock the sucker to the floor. A broken glove compartment, elbow drop it. Torn up seats? Pee on them then light them on fire. You see, when you do this, you are actually helping the victim because then they will be able to use the insurance money to buy the new seats, dash, mirror, etc that they have wanted. Thats why I say, make insurance worth it: break it. Want more lessons? just visit http://StereoThiefStereotypes.cc/etiquette/beallthatyoucanbe.htm <$BlogItemNumber$>
 
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