Do You Know Your Neighbors?

This morning as I was scanning through my FB page, I saw a posting from a friend who was stating how she didn’t feel as safe sitting on her front porch with her coffee as she used to feel.

After visiting FB I went to my emails and I always check my spam box and found another claim wanting you to purchase something I am sure. The claim was, Is your neighbor a criminal?

At first I giggled to myself and then I began to ponder on life’s changes that stood out at me right away. I can remember my dad not locking the garage door and a lot of times he and mom didn’t lock their vehicle doors. I never asked or checked, but was the front and back door locked at bedtime?

Today, even when I am home and it is broad daylight; my doors are locked. Why is this? What has happened? More people moving into neighborhoods, less welcome to your new home parties. I don’t believe nearly as many of us know our neighbors today as we did, 25 years ago. We just don’t take or make the time it seems. When was the last time a neighbor brought over a freshly baked cake when you moved into your new place?

In fact, today that doesn’t happen too often and instead of smiling and being thankful, there are some who may grow suspicious of this welcome action, ponder on the ingredients that are in that cake. Maybe we would take the cake and say a thank-you before shutting the door. Maybe we would then toss it in the trash, or possibly trust on the fact there are still many good people in the world, and eat a slice of it.

I remember when I was little, mom would take us to the store. She needed 1 or 2 items. She would tell us, ” I will only be a minute, don’t fight and sit still”. My mom was a good mom, and us kids thought nothing of it. Can we do that today? Absolutely not! The weirdos that walk the streets, that try to steal our babies right out from under our noses for their own sick satisfaction have made us much more aware of our surroundings. Even for 1 or 2 items, we take our kids with us.

Life has certainly changed. Now you can get an app where you can discover how close a child molester lives to you. Even though it was spam email, I bet you can find out for a price if your neighbor is or was a criminal.

What happened? I don’t know. My simple mind still says we have many more people living in our small neighborhoods, expanding them to the fullest. There are several issues that can be included, which I won’t go into at this point, because it would make this post much longer.

What about your neighborhood? Do you know your neighbors? Do you feel safe day and night?