ONE early morning last week, a burglar broke into my home. Fortunately, my scream sent him fleeing. I called the police station to report what had happened.

Two policemen arrived 15 minutes later.

I told them that the burglar had taken my bunch of keys. They looked around and then asked me to go to the police station to file a report.

Since I live alone, I reminded them that the burglar had stolen my keys, and that he could return at any time.

The policeman called his superior on his mobile phone and asked me to talk to his superior.
His superior rudely informed me that the policemen could not wait at my house till daybreak and asked me what I would like them to do.

He told me to get a new padlock and then go to the police station. Where on earth would I find a padlock at 3am?

I've heard tales of unhelpful, rude and inefficient policemen. What happened that morning proved that there is some truth in them.

Why were they asking me what they should do? Aren't they trained to handle such situations?