There’s no career more affected by this pandemic than one of the oldest ones in the book. No, not that one. The other one. Word on the street is that larceny drew the short straw. For the past several weeks—or has it been months? I can’t tell anymore—an unprecedented number of house robbers have been going out of business. Largely due to the city’s residents always being home, many have been forced to shut down their services for good. Though they’re fighting to stay in action, the reality is that most of the industry have already broken through their last door.
This is just another new normal this pandemic has created. While a portion of the population is learning to merge their 9–5 hours with life at home, at least 20% of the country is adjusting to life on pause. As a society, we’re left with a world where pockets of opportunities have gone to zero. No matter where we live or how old we are, we all wake up with the same unsettling feeling of not knowing what tomorrow will bring nor what the future holds. And it seems like no one is exempt, not even burglars.
For generations, families in the business of breaking and entering have been working a routine. Getting by meant sticking to the script. You did your research, which included renting a big white windowless van, camping out, making notes, and finding a buddy who never puts the I in team. Then, when the time was right, knocking on the door to make certain no one was home, going in, coming out, and moving on. That was it. Easy. All in a day’s work.
Now, “Knock, knock, anyone home?” is always answered with a “Yes, hello! What can I do you for?” So, for those who live robbery to robbery, applying for unemployment is the only means to survival. This combined with the realization that their skills are no longer relevant has created a trend of personal re-evaluation in the community. Many are even considering switching professions. Some are using the time to enrol in online classes like software programming, specifically security and home protection. Others are specializing in pursuits like gemmology and coin appraisal.
In the ripple effect, businesses who profit from their endeavours are also facing a transition period. The hardest hit has been in manufacturing. Black ski masks have had the most dramatic decrease in sales in five decades. The same goes for products like black and white striped shirts, shoulder-length gloves, canvas bags with large dollar signs, and tight leather pants.
The world is changing in ways we couldn’t have predicted. As the days pass and spring turns into summer, we’re all finding ways to adapt and cope, ways to pivot and prepare for a post-pandemic nation. In time, most things will return to normal, but some won’t. And that’s okay. Because a world where burglars work from home is in all honesty, a better one.
