Mini Rant

So.......... I was watching the news tonight and there was a story about a 65 year old man somewhere in the metro area who had gone missing.

Sad story, family distraught, all that stuff.

OK. I can see that, but then the newscaster, not a family member, but a newscaster, went on to say that the man's house had been broken into and robbed.

OK, folks. News flash here.

A House CAN NOT be robbed. A house can be burglarized, a house can be broken into, burned, damaged and invaded, but it cannot be robbed.

Robbery involves force or fear. If I pick your pocket, I haven't robbed you. If I throw you to the ground and take your wallet, I have robbed you. If I point a gun at you or even tell you I have a gun. and take your wallet, I have robbed you. But in order to be robbed, you must be an animate object. I can rob you, your sister, your friend, your neighbor, your co-worker, or the guy who works the night shift at the power plant, but I cannot rob your house.

A house is not alive.

I don't expect everyday people to know the difference, but a freakin' newscaster, whose job it is to get the facts straight, should know the difference.

When newscasters don't know their information, maybe we have all been robbed.