My car was broken into on Monday.

Well, let me rephrase that. I don't leave valuable things in my car, so I didn't lock it (mostly I don't lock it due to the alarm system that likes to go on the fritz and not let me into my car sometimes). And on Monday, someone decided to get in my car, rifle through my things and take what they wanted.

I am slightly stumped. The only thing gone from my car is a tiny coin jar that contains maybe $5 worth of pennies and nickels - because the dimes and quarters go towards whopper jrs at BK. My glove compartment was open, the papers from it were strewn across the seat, along with all the napkins I keep in there for contingencies. And I felt very very grateful that my car was still there. So, I didn't really mind the fact that my funds were slightly diminished.

I didn't call the police because nothing else was missing and nothing was broken and there were no other real signs of foul play. I went to the gym instead, which was where I was headed when I made this discovery.

While at the gym, I realized something big. Right before I went home for Christmas, I made 2 new copies of my car keys because my original was getting slightly bent and was begging to break every time I turned the lock. Guess where I put the original. In the glove compartment. My feelings of gratitude soared because I realized how easily the perpetrator could have taken one of the only valuable things I own.

And yet, amidst all these feelings of gratitude, I feel violated. Someone I don't know and don't trust got in my car. Went through my things. And took something I don't really care about. But now I just feel uncomfortable and insecure. Everywhere I go. School, the gym, the store. At the gym, most of the women put their things in lockers and don't lock them. I just can't do that, even more so now that this happened.

There is a reason why girls like feeling safe. The comfort and security that comes from it can make an feelings of uneasiness disappear in an instant. I just want to feel okay walking around doing things I normally do. Not feel violated trying to live a normal life.

You always think this can never happen to you. But it does. And the aftereffects are always worse than the actual incidence.

Maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion and overreacting. Either way, I still feel uncomfortable every time I walk out to my car.