So I recently became involved with the Nextdoor App that is specific to my neighborhood. There is a lot more going on than I could have imagined from loose dogs running around to turtle sandbox tops getting wedged who knows where. What is seriously concerning me is the reports of burglaries. I always called my neighborhood Pleasantville because nothing bad every seemed to happen. It is like Mayberry U.S.A.

First off, I never want to blame the victims

There are bad people in this world. If we had peace, we wouldn’t need to take precautions against predators and micreants.

But,…!!

I am exceedingly curious about the circumstances of the thefts. I am not aware of any crowbars taken to doors or smashing in of windows to gain entry. These have been petty crimes of opportunity. People leave their car doors unlocked and its easy to walk along and check if doors are open. And guess what, for some reason they also leave high value items and, most importantly, garage door openers in their unlocked vehicles. I’m thinking that is not a very smart move. Sometimes, I walk my dogs in the wee morning hours and see many garage doors open, likely overnight. Most of our garages have a side door and people sometimes leave those unlocked too. Its my feeling that if you can get into a garage, you’re going to get into the house. Even if you lock your door from garage into the house. There are tools in garages like crowbars and screwdrivers making it easy to get in without anybody seeing.

Regardless, we know there are bad people out there. But some people are quite frankly stupid. I’m sorry you were too naive to trust the human race. You have to watch out these days.

If you play with fire…

Don’t give them the key to your house and expect not to get burned. If most drunk driving accidents happen between Midnight and 3am, then don’t be out then. If you want to end up with knife wounds to your chest, then go to bars in the middle of the night and pick a fight. If you walk down a dark alley all alone, there is a much higher probability of something bad happening. Its like walking in mountain lion country with deer sausage wrapped around your neck.

People need to get smarter about their awareness and safety. Teach your family and kids how to be safe! And get off cell phones at times when you need to be safe.