My Super Nintendo just got stolen

[0 to 3 Sad Onions]

So picture this. You've just done an eight-hour shift, busting ass and cutting your fingers up in the process and the one thing you want to do is grab a drink, climb into bed and put on a really trashy movie. You get in the door around twelve-thirty, raid the kitchen for some quick munchies. Nothing amiss so far. Then you decide to change out of your work clothes and put everything away. Back to your room you go, then the first thing you notice is a bit of bubble wrap on the floor where there wasn't any before. Next thing you notice is a portion of the room is in disarray. Then you look around a bit and your eyes turn to the top of the TV, where your Super Nintendo, your favorite game system, got moved because there was no other place for it...and it's gone. Nothing's there.

Yeah. This happened to me.

Apparently, when I was at work this evening, my sister decided that it was okay to enter someone else's living space when that person wasn't home and just take shit without asking or giving advance warning. Apparently, if you're convinced that the item in question is yours and you make some vague statement about "maybe" returning it, you can steal things and still be in the right. >.<

Ten bucks says I'll never see it again. My sister has a history of borrowing stuff, both with and without asking, and then never bringing it back. If she leaves your home with something of yours, odds are it's gone forever. The last thing I let her borrow was my Exorcist DVD; I've asked about it multiple times and every time she's dodged the question. She just says something like "maybe next time" and that's fucking it. Ten more bucks says she doesn't have it anymore.

And to salt the wound? I. Had. EARTHBOUND. The actual cart. Not a pirated copy. Not something I paid out the ass for on eBay. The real fucking McCoy. Not only is Earthbound my favorite fucking game ever, but the cart was one of my most prized possessions. That stings as much as anything else. I don't just feel violated because someone came in when I was gone, FUCKING ROBBED ME and tried to justify it. Something that meant a lot to me got jacked in the process. *punches a hole in the wall*

I've got half a mind to have her drawn and quartered next time I run into her.

 

[Corven]

Call the police? Family or not, she still stole your property and you have legal right to getting those items back.

Or if that doesn't sit right with you, why not do to her what she did to you and just go into her house and take the stuff back, it's your stuff don't just sit there and leave it be.

 

[0 to 3 Sad Onions]

Call the police? Family or not, she still stole your property and you have legal right to getting those items back.

Or if that doesn't sit right with you, why not do to her what she did to you and just go into her house and take the stuff back, it's your stuff don't just sit there and leave it be.

I know I should, but my faith in the police goes below zero and into numbers only expressible in scientific notation. It's not like she made off with a load of cash or jewelry, so I doubt they'd care. The local cops are too busy fulfilling ticket quotas or going after homeless people to be of much help when you need them. Last time I called the cops with an emergency, the guy kept me hanging for close to an hour and then gave me this brush-off response like he was shooing the cat out.

She also has two daughters that I only ever get to see whenever she needs someone to fob them off on because she can't be arsed to hire a sitter or get her oldest signed up for school. I don't know if dragging the cops into this is worth the strife it'll cause, especially considering how dead set I've been on rising above the family drama instead of creating more of it.

And stealing it right back is just stooping to her level, karmic retribution or not. But I'm not going to let her off the hook until I get all of it back.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

And stealing it right back is just stooping to her level, karmic retribution or not. But I'm not going to let her off the hook until I get all of it back.

Tell everyone else in your family, friends as well that she took it from you so word gets around, maybe even have them help you. Directly confront her about giving it back to you, threaten to call the cops if she does not (doesn't mean you have to do it) after all, she stole something worth a lot to you and she had no right. Family or not.

 

[piinyouri]

*heavy exasperated sigh*

I know the feeling...FAR too well OP.
I know it can be tricky, it's not like if a stranger came in and took something.

I have this issue with my brother to the point where I can't leave anything out where he can see it. Car keys, music CD's, games. One time I came home and found my copy of Saints Row 2 lying on the counter in the kitchen. It should have been in my room, but there it sat. Open the case and it had a few new scratch marks on the disc. In my case, I can't/couldn't do much, because of the very specific circumstances, and emotional and mental climate of this house.

Best I can say is to find her, or when you see her again, ask for it back, and (as much as possible) kindly but firmly ask that she not enter your room/house again when you aren't there.

 

[OneCatch]

I've got half a mind to have her drawn and quartered next time I run into her.

If she's that flaky then you need to get it back ASAP before it gets car-booted or ebayed or something.
If you've got access to her house, just go and take it back. Don't rely on her being reliable or taking the effort to return it because it sounds like she won't.
Be assertive instead of nasty, but find out when she'll be at home in the next, say, 2 days, in no uncertain terms state that you're coming to collect it at that time, and do so. If she won't cooperate, find a family member/friend who has a key (or go in through a window) and get it back that way.
No dicking around, no indecision, and less drama in the long term because it doesn't turn into some protracted and escalated row, and you can forget about the whole thing as soon as you've got it back.

And get locks or something for your place to stop it happening again. She'll just keep acting that way until she's prevented from doing so.

 

[FireAza]

At first I thought some random stranger stole it and I found it really weird a thief would be knowledgeable enough about retro gaming to know what's valuable. But then you said it was your sister. I'll just say this, if you do murder her, if you tell the court she stole a genuine copy of EarthBound, no jury in the would would convict you

POW!! Right in the smacker.

The correct quote is "POW! Right in the kisser!"

 

[DanielBrown]

Confront her at her place, get your stuff back and take the key she has since she obviously can't be trusted?
At least that's what I would do.

 

[beez]

Confront her at her place, get your stuff back and take the key she has since she obviously can't be trusted?
At least that's what I would do.

Just this. Be civil, explain to her what it means to you and tell her you want it back, take the key. If she doesn't, call the cops. When you can, somehow buy a new one, look everywhere and find one, it won't be the same, but at least you'll have something. And make her pay for it. I'm sorry for your loss, tho. I never lived that console nostalgia thing, because I didn't have one until this gen, but I had a C64 and when I found out that my parents threw it out, I had to buy a new one, because I loved my C64.

 

[Psycomantis777]

Did you think of eating a really bad kebab and taking a crap in her pillow?
Or if she has a cat, eat her cat...
My brother tends to take stuff from me and I tend to just poke him with something sharp 'til he returns it...
Oooh, or you could throw big spiders at her!

 

[fletch_talon]

Why does your sister have keys to your house?
Why don't you go there and take it back? Note I didn't say "steal" it back because taking your property is not stealing. Meet her at her house, once inside, find anything belonging to you and take it. What? Is she going to stop you?
And while you're there make sure to get your keys back because...
Why does your sister have keys to your house?
Personally I think you need to stop blaming your sister for your troubles. Don't get me wrong, she sounds like a bit of a ***** but at the end of the day if you accept "maybe next time" as a response to your demands to have your possessions returned to you then you share the blame for allowing this shit to go on. Learn to be more assertive and act on your demands, don't just let people like that walk over you.
And as a final note, I have to ask:
Why does your sister, who has a history of "borrowing" your stuff without permission, have keys to your house? Your house being the place where you keep your stuff.

 

[Foolery]

Just call the cops and explain the situation. If you want to take it a step further, change the locks, and get a restraining order if there's that much bad blood with your sister.

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

take your stuff back? (perhaps preceeded by some growing of one pair or another?)
Like, not to sound rude, but no need to be a willing doormat! Get at it! I mean, are you intimidated by her, is she some unreasonable/aggressive person? Why make a post here complaining about then when by your own admission you haven't taken action to rectify the situation, other than accept her hand-waving which you youself are saying is just BS? It's your console, you like it a lot, go get it back brother!


I have the same issue with my cousin(well, sans the sneaking into my house), except she doesn't do it out of malevolence or anything, stuff she borrows just ends up getting lost or whatever, sometimes only half returned. Recently she borrowed a game from me, but this time I made sure that I had something of hers in exchange, I now have a collection of ghibli movies and the complete series of deathnote, so even if she loses my games I've got something of equal value

and as fletch there said, how was she even getting into your place? Fix that if you can so she can't go getting in when you're not home, who knows how much she could have taken that you just didn't notice, if this is the way she goes about 'borrowing'?

 

[Staskala]

I dunno, maybe talk to her?

 

[kurokotetsu]

GO to her place, steal it back. Or something prized and ransom it. There should be limits, and she should understand them. Of course talk to her, tel her how important that game and system is and everything, but if she doesn't comply, then just get it back. Go to her place and take it. It is yours.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Tell her to return it or you will seek legal advice, if she doesn't have it any more then sit her down in front of a computer and find one on eBay that she can buy you. She has stolen your property, being family doesn't make a crime ok. If she doesn't understand that then she needs help and if she doesn't get help she will just keep doing it.