This is something I wrote when some similar asshole stole my purse a few years ago. I think it sums it up. Please enjoy -
The End of the Front Porch and the Fall of Civilization
When did it happen? The end of the end. The day when everyone stopped caring about their neighbor. Where were you when you realized it was all over?
For me it happened over the weekend, while at home, in my quaint little town home subdivision, modeled after the grand row homes of afore, I was robbed.
Yes, someone entered my garage, found the nerve to rifle through my car, and take my faux alligator, clearance rack knock off, purse.
Of course, once you realize your purse has disappeared, you find yourself talking yourself out of the possibility that someone would have stolen it. You rummage through every possible location you have ever put anything and yet, in the back of your mind, that nagging voice is telling you, somebody took it.
So why is it, in this day and age of constant badgering by the news media about how the world is truly going straight to hell that I wanted to believe that no one would wrong me in such a way?
After calling all my credit card companies, my banks, the credit bureaus, and everyone else I could think of, I sat down and in disbelief asked myself, why is that someone thought that they could do this? What father left them in their youth, what tragedy had scarred them for life, what disillusionment from never quite making ends meet, did they suffer?
You may be saying that having my purse stolen in comparison to being raped, pillaged or otherwise permanently scarred, is a minute infraction on my personal rights, and you’d be right, but it seems to me that there is an underlying principle that seems to cause all wrongdoers to do wrong.
And it isn’t any of those things the defense attorneys, the shrinks, or the Dr. Phils of the world say causes it. Because, my father left me in my youth, I’ve had more than my fair share of tragedy to overcome, and guess what, I’m 25, up to ass in school debt, and just trying to make it work out at the end of each month. But somewhere along the way, this asshole, excuse my language, decided that he was so hard up he needed to take from the perceived “haves” of the world?
The true cause of the world’s demise…
I grew up in an idyllic world, I know that now. I grew up in a house that when we accidentally locked the front door once, I was elected to climb through the cracked bathroom window to let everyone in. I don’t think we even had keys to the doors in our house.
I grew up in the rural world. The place where when someone needed to pee, they stopped by, ran in, and told you about it at the basketball game on Friday night. I grew up in the place where people knew each other, talked to each other, talked about each other and while I ran away from that life, weary of “everyone knowing my name”, I understand now, why that is so important.
Without the checks and balances of the front porch neighborhoods, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Those annoying people that knew your business at all times, are the original neighborhood watch. Whether it is at the corner coffee shop where the old folks gather to discuss the rotten children of today, or on the corner stoop where the same thing happens, America
If you live in a glorified neighborhood with a homeowners association or in any town with zoning ordinances, you’ve all seen and dealt with the “covenants”. The rules that tell you where your mail box has to be, what fences you are allowed to build, what flowers you can plant, what car you can drive (ok, kidding), and so on. They tell you what your neighborhood needs to look like, what perception you are trying to portray to the outside world.
Well, the newest covenant that needs to be put in place, is the requirement of front porches. Stop building garages in front to show off how many cars you can afford and put a porch in. Show the world that you plan to watch it go by. Make this world back into a place we all want to live.
Now, this may seem like an insane rant of a pissed off person who was recently robbed, and it is, but it is also a plea. A plea for sanity and common sense to be returned to the world, a plea for the world to recognize its’ loss of concern for the citizens that live in it, and a plea for the punk that stole my purse to return it.
To sum up, Cheers had it right, and for the asshole that stole my purse….life is short, the golden rule is always right, and karma’s a bitch. Enjoy the faux leather, I hope your girlfriend loves it.
