Thursday, October 13, 2011

Crime Rates

One of my many jobs is managing the mini-warehouse business that belongs to The Boss Man.  So on occasion, I have to meet a new customer to get paperwork filled out.  On Saturday, I attended to just that.

I met with a lady and her son that had just moved to our small town from California.  To make small talk, I asked where in California she was from.  She said that she was from Stockton.  Rather than comment on the horrid reputation of Stockton (Stockton consistently tops lists in terms of crime rates), I said that Vol Fan and I loved several things about California.  I went on to talk about the glorious weather and no mosquitos and the fact that smoking is not allowed in bars.

When we went to leave, I noticed that she had locked her car.  It was such a small thing.  But for me, it just went to shine a glaring light on the difference between my hometown and theirs.

Don't get me wrong.  I am all for safety.
  • I lock my car door while I'm shopping.
  • I even hook the grocery cart child safety belt through the handles of my purse.
  • I lock the doors to my home at night.
  • I rarely travel alone at night.
  • You could not pay me enough money to stop at a deserted rest stop or gas station.
  • If I have to travel alone, I stop before dark and always choose a safe hotel with inside corridors.
  • Etc
  • Etc
But the thought that she felt she had to lock her car doors while at a warehouse site with no one around in the middle of the afternoon saddens me.  It saddens me that there are places so unsafe that you would feel the need to be on guard every moment of every day.

I'm not so silly to think that crime can't happen anywhere, that crime doesn't happen in my small town.  It can and it does.  But not to the extent that she is used to.  And I hope that she and her family will come to learn that fact as well.

5 comments:

Busy Bee Suz said...

I am used to locking things up too....but it is usually overkill. I hope they love their new little town too!

George said...

We live in a small and statistically safe town, yet the Public Safety office is always warning people to lock cars left in the driveway overnight. In a way it's sad because I can still remember growing up in a house that was almost never locked.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

We live in a very safe place also---but on occasion we read about some kind of crime in our area... Surprising!!!!

Since I lived in New Orleans, I learned that you can't be too careful... I learned to be more observant of the people around me. I still always lock the car --no matter where we are. Sometimes we don't leave our iPad/laptop in the LOCKED car --even when hidden. I guess there's not much trust left anywhere. Kinda sad, isn't it???

I met a lady up here who had moved from CA...
Hugs,
Betsy

Snooty Primadona said...

We are so on the same page! Where I live, we can still leave our doors unlocked at any time of day, although I'm a safety girl & I lock anyway.

I lock everything lockable, everywhere I go, everyday. Yes, it's sad but with this economy it's only going to get worse, even in little places like where you & I live.

Sad indeed...

Desert Survivor said...

I always have to remember to lock up when I go to bigger places. My biggest fear is that I'll lock my keys in the vehicle! Out here everyone not only leaves vehicles unlocked, often the keys stay right in them! of course, if anyone stole anything, we'd just call ahead to the nearest town (an hour away), and the sheriff's deputies would have spikes out on the road, waiting for the perpetrator.