contextual anonymity

[Ken Brown]

Faustine wrote:

> After I thought about it, I got that sickening little feeling in the pit of my
> stomach again. Jesus christ, I can't even have a visitor without setting off
> some kind of alarm worth investigating. How much time had she spent watching the
> front door to pick up on the fact that we never have guests? It was then that I
> had the epiphany that if I were doing anything I actually needed anonymity
> for--rather than merely living quietly and making a symbolic gesture--there's
> not a doubt in my mind she'd have the cops, SWAT teams, and the five o' clock
> news all over us like a cheap suit.


A few weeks ago I, and my daughter, went to stay with my brother for a
weekend. I left a radio on (not a self-conscious security measure, one
of them is usually on about 24 hours a day) and (don't ask why) the
telephone was off the hook.

On the Saturday some friends phoned from a nearby pub to see if I wanted
a drink. No answer. They got worried for some reason  and phoned the
phone company. They said that the phone was off the hook and they could
hear shouting. (The radio...) My friends got worried and went round to
my place. Couldn't get in. They called the police.

I turned up the next evening to find my door kicked in and boarded up,
and a note from the police.

Well, at least I now have a nice new door paid for by Her Majesty's
Government. And - seeing as my mates were there at the time - I now know
that police in London who want to break into someone's house don't
routinely go armed, and don't turn up in large numbers. Though they do
use a special "enforcer" tool that is meant to break a hole in the door
near the lock, but didn't in this case, and they ended up smashing the
whole thing up.  I once saw the fire brigade break in to the flat
upstairs - their special tools didn't work either, but one well-aimed
kick was enough to push the intact door and its frame out from the wall.
Irritating to the occupant who had installed a metal strip around the
door frame to prevent a break-in.

Ken