Criminally Freaked.

The other day,  (before I went to bed, no doubt) I brought up our local news website.  I was curious about an article that had been posted earlier in the day, so I thought I'd check up on it before I went to sleep.  The problem was that this time when I pulled it up, another story caught my eye.  The headline said something along the lines (and I am summing it up) "Man robbed by 3 masked men speaking spanish at gunpoint."  "Huh," I thought.  When I checked to see where this crime went down, I really disliked what I saw.  It's basically around the block from my house.  (Keep in mind I live in the country.  We don't really have "blocks" and what would be a block is actually kinda far away compared to city blocks).  But still.  Totally.  Freaking.  Awesome.  Did I mention I've been home alone the past few nights?  Great.

It seems to me our quiet little community is becoming less bothered by the amount of crime that's been happening recently.  Like this homicide, burned body thing that happened in Santa Margarita.  5 people were arrested, most of them from Nipomo.  A couple of the boys aren't even 21 years old.  Then a few months ago, a girl from the high school was attacked under the bridge by the hospital.  There's been reports of a suspicious van following kids walking to school.  A few years ago, people would be talking.  It'd be brought up in casual conversation or you'd overhear the concern while waiting in the coffee shop.  People used to fear for the direction of our community.  Whether a crime was a misdemeanor or felony, it didn't matter.  It was happening, here, in our neighborhoods.

It makes me wonder why.  Are we becoming immune to the crimes committed, big or small, because it's all over television?  Are we becoming immune because it's happening more and more?  Are we losing concern because we feel it's out of our control?  Is it the growth in our community that inevitably brings more crime?

This little robbed at gunpoint thing has me totally shaken up.  It definitely happened too close for comfort.  I've barely been able to sleep for 3 nights, because every little noise has woken me up and makes my heart pound.  I shouldn't have to fear for my safety, especially in my own home.  This sort of thing used to never happen around here.  I'm not used to it, and I don't want to get used to it.  Our community used to be a really safe place.  You could trust your neighbors.  You could leave your doors unlocked.  And you could let your kids walk to school.  I know things change, it's just disappointing that it's happening so rapidly.