So you come home from vacation late one evening to find your front door cracked open. It's apparent that someone has jimmied the lock in order to get it in. You tell your wife to stay in the car with your children. You start to sweat with a palpable fear and your heart is beating loud enough to break the dark silence. You keep a hand on your cell phone ready to dial 911. As you walk through the house you notice things have been moved around, the tv is on and food is left all over the kitchen. As you head up stairs to check the bedrooms you hear the unmistakable sound of men's voices. The fear rushes back in and now you are trying to dial 911 while looking for something to protect yourself with. You explain the situation to the 911 operator and she assures you someone will be there as soon as possible.
Your thoughts turn to your family so you rush back outside to keep watch until the police arrive.

These men are either oblivious to the fact that you entered the home or they don't care. As you wait for help your observant young daughter starts asking questions. You try to explain the situation as best you can without scaring her. You tell her that someone has broken in to our home and that the police will be here any time to arrest these men. You explain that entering someone's home without permission is against the law and that laws are designed to protect us when we are away from home or when we are sleeping in our beds at night.

Finally the police show up and begin to make a sweep of the house. Your wife is starting to breathe easier now and your heart doesn't seem to be pounding in your chest anymore. Just as you begin to explain to your daughter that everything will be alright, the Police Officers approach your car. You ask if they were able to catch the men that broke in. The officer in charge asks if he could explain the situation.

He tells you that the two men seem to be from a rough neighborhood near downtown. He says that they may have an explanation for being in your home. It appears they could no longer make the rent payment at their apartment. They have also been out of work for some time and have been scrounging for food to avoid going hungry. The two men said they walked from downtown until they found a home that looked like it would take care of all their needs. They assured the officer they had no intention of hurting anybody and are generally nice people.

The officer asks if you have insurance on your home because these men will have no way of paying for any damages. The officer then asks if you want to press charges. Before you can answer, your wife steps in and says "of course we want to press charges these men broke into our home and violated the law". You agree that pressing charges is the right thing to do. However, the officer begins to appeal to your benevolence. He points to all of the hardships these men have had to endure and that someone such as yourself that has been successful should give these guys a break and that you'll feel so much better for it. After a few minutes of soul searching and much debate with your wife, you reluctantly decide not to press charges. 

Now you just want your home back to normal and to get your family safe in bed. You begin to unload the car when you notice the police packing up and beginning to leave. You immediately notice the police cars are empty, other than the officers. In a confused panic you wave the officer down and ask what is going on. He says that the "undocumented strangers" have been spoken to and everything has been taken care of. You ask to him to be more specific. "Okay", he says, "the older man will be staying in the guest bedroom and the bearded fellow says the sofa is fine with him. They asked if you could remove the locks in order for their friends to have easier access to the home. They said locking your home sends a negative signal anyway. They have some photos of their own that they would like to hang so you might have to give up some wall space. Apparently you are out of milk and the old guy prefers skim. Oh, and the bearded fellow needs a ride to the clinic on Thursday."

Jeremy Randolph