My next door neighbor is high functioning but developmentally challenged. He is part of a group of people who are in a treatment program but live on their own, and some of them live in the apartment complex where I am currently staying while in school. They have counselors who come to check on them several times a day and pick them up for daily activities. My neighbor is middle aged, very nice, and loves talking to everyone. Frequently when I am either leaving my apartment or coming back from somewhere he will be waiting there, hoping to strike up a conversation. Once he engages you in a conversation, all I can say is I hope you don’t have anywhere to be, he could talk for hours if you let him. Recently he told me that he thought someone was stealing things in the complex, and he seemed pretty worked up about it. I believe this person is actually another member in his program.
Yesterday, I heard two people having a conversation right outside my door. I could hear my neighbor, as he has a very distinct voice, and he seemed pretty upset. When I went to go look out the window I saw he was talking to a police officer. My neighbor apparently called the police to report that his doormat was stolen. When the officer arrived she began to ask him typical questions that cops ask, how long ago did you get it… when did you realize it was gone... what does it look like... was there any pattern on it…? My assumption is that she realized the situation and that my neighbor was not all there in the head, so her questions were not very helpful. It seemed more like it was just her main goal to try to calm him down, understanding that it was a doormat that was missing and there was probably nothing she could do about it.
Eventually the cop asked my neighbor if he knew who did it, and he immediately said, “Yes, he lives in 199,” referring to the apartment number. My neighbor explained that this person has stolen a lot of things, such as a plastic chair and that he goes through the garbage looking for things. She asked what his name was then asked if he could spell the last name of the ‘suspect’, but my neighbor said that he couldn’t spell or read. Then he started to explain that the mat was a present from his aunt and that his aunt was upset when he told her someone stole it. His aunt told him that he had rights and that they should be able to search the person’s apartment, so this is what he conveyed to the cop. At this point, the police officer had had enough and told my neighbor to just not talk to the ‘culprit’ and she would look into the problem. My neighbor said he wouldn’t talk to him but would be watching, as if to catch him in the act.
Though I do not know if there really is a robber on the loose, it is hard to take my neighbor seriously; I know he probably does not have any reason to lie, but let’s be real, he is not the most credible source for information. Anyway, I thought this was amusing because not only did my neighbor report a missing doormat, I believe the person he was accusing is someone in his treatment program. Never in my life would I imagine that a stolen doormat would be reported to the police, but I guess anything is possible… maybe this was a really nice doormat, who knows? My neighbor said that he was going to be on the look out and would let the cop know if he sees any criminal activity. The bad news here is my neighbor is probably never going to see his doormat again; the good news is I now have a security unit looking out for robbers.
