Was it worth it? It was sometime around one year ago, May, or June, 2008, I think. We were closing up an iaido class and shutting down the dojo for the day. As it was fine weather that night, the front door was open to allow in some fresh air. The few students that night were bowing off of the mat and preparing to leave. A friend and I had been chatting for a few minutes after class and he was now heading to the locker room. He had placed his iaito (sword) onto a bench behind the practice area about 20 feet in from the doorway.
I headed into the office to close up there. I returned to the practice area about 10 minutes later to find my friend searching around the dojo trying to find his iaito. Everyone had joined in the search. A parent picking up her daughter came in to see what the commotion was about and told us that she thought she saw someone running through the parking lot toward the back of the building just a few minutes prior.
In the few minutes while we were away from the practice area, someone had entered the dojo, violated the serenity of our practice area, and stole away into the night taking a sword with him. I felt terrible. An unwanted intruder had entered into the heart of the safe community that I was working so hard to create.