“The bad guys did not change us and how we do things”, is that not denial if not naiveté?
Years and years I hear people or groups make this claim when the facts that certain malefactors have changed the way society does things. Example, Halloween, when I was a kid, we would go out alone at a certain age without parents in tow and no one worried. Also I remember getting (but not liking them much at the time) candied apples, fudge, gooey peanut butter cookies, etc. things you would never consider eating these days because of how scoundrels of the past sabotage candy, fruit, etc. Some might be too young to remember the height of it when you were encourage to take your Halloween booty to the fire station for inspection to make sure it was safe. Christmas has changed, when I was a kid only the lowest of Scrooges would steal holiday displays from their neighbor and today if you have some fancy inflatable you best place a 24hr guard on them or secure them with anchor chain. You can’t leave presents visible in your vehicle or some idiot will break your glass and purloin your Christmas goodies. In some ways people are discourage from leaving their gifts under the tree neatly displayed in front of the large picture window (well, with many homes alarmed to the teeth, that might be easing). I knew people slightly older, who were teens in the hippie era of the 60s speak about hitchhiking all over the US, good luck with that today, the hitchhikers are as distrustful of the drivers as the drivers are of the hitchhikers, each one believing the other will leave their decaying carcass in some ravine hidden in the hills. Things that used to be done without much concern are not done now, or done with extreme prejudice, why? Because of what reprobates of the past have done, and they did change business as usual. Those who think they haven’t (providing they know what the changes are), are they in denial because they don’t want to admit the malefactors gained some points, or are they in a blissful naiveté?
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I don’t disagree that things and practives change in response to negative behavior of others. But then again I have never heard anyone make the statement you seem to be quoting.
It’s my understanding that actual rates of such crimes as automobile break-ins and kids joyriding and vandalizing private property have significantly declined since the “good old days”. When was the last time you’ve even heard of anyone playing mailbox baseball?
and the Halloween candy thing has always been an urban legend not based in any kind of fact.
Since the cave man days “bad guys” have wanted to take what you have and worked hard to get and I do not think that will ever change. You made me wax nostalgic though for the days when I did not have to wear a seat belt and could nap in the back window of our sedan while on road trips, the days of teeter totters, merry-go-rounds and monkey bars on asphalt playgrounds. I was just telling someone today how as a 10 yr old my mom gave me money for a ticket and bus fare to go to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play with my other 10 yr old buddies. Yeah we were constantly bombarded with the message of Stranger Danger and that sufficed to give us that invisible force field of protection that youngins could go and conquer the world on their own.
Typical blame side-stepping.
@Seek It’s my understanding that actual rates of such crimes as automobile break-ins and kids joyriding and vandalizing private property have significantly declined since the “good old days”.
That was small scale as the majority of people had curb side mailboxes the propensity to bash them was not widespread. Crime decreasing might change somethings but those are new things not an elimination of old actions.
[… and the Halloween candy thing has always been an urban legend not based in any kind of fact.
Well, for those who lived through it in this area it was more than some legend of those yet to be borne. Had I known I would have had to prove history I would have saved some of the old newspapers.
@Cruiser I was just telling someone today how as a 10 yr old my mom gave me money for a ticket and bus fare to go to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play with my other 10 yr old buddies.
Oh, try that with your 10 yr. old son today and people will want to call CPS on you. I remember in high school about 3–4 teachers took a group of us students to the shooting range and we got to fire some shotguns, .44 magnums, .357 magnums, .45 cal., Berretta, 30.6 rifles, etc. not only was it FUN! It also gave us a healthy respect of what they could do handle correctly and the chaos they could do if not. Try that today…..yeah, I hear your laugher.
“Crime decreasing might change somethings but those are new things not an elimination of old actions.”
Huh?
@Hypocrisy_Central Actually no laughter from my camp only empathy. 10 years ago I got to take my then 10 year old to a sportman’s club to shoot shotgun with his Boy Scout Troop. My wife reacted in horror that her “baby” would ever come near a firearm….so I said to her….honey…would you rather have your own son be formally introduced to firearms by a certified NRA instructor or one of his friends older brothers in their basement or garage. She said have a nice time.
Some individuals may not have made any changes in their behavior, and they can make that claim. However, protecting ourselves from harm has always been a priority, and we make changes as necessary.
When my son was about 4 years old, I let him go to the toy section of the store while I looked at clothes. A customer warned me that a child had been abducted from that very store last year. I changed my behavior after that. This was after I moved from a “safe” town to a big city.
@Cruiser your reminiscences about riding in cars without a seat belt reminded me of a time when we could drive with a beer in our hands out here in the wilds of Texas which, in turn, brought back the memory of a Texas caver who went on to become a professional journalist/writer. He had an article in Playboy that made the rounds in the caving community here back in the 70’s where he told a story of being pulled over by the police up north somewhere. He had an open beer can with him and when the cop asked about it he apologized and told him that he had recently moved there from Texas and how out in West Texas you had to keep a cold one between your legs to keep your balls from overheating and he had not yet broken himself of the habit. I believe he was able to get out of the ticket with this explanation.
The bad guys have certainly changed airline security but I still hitch a lift in a car occasionally.
When I was a kid, the local Halloween urban legend was about people putting razor blades in apples.
I agree that people are less trustful now, even though the long term crime rates have been declining.
There are not more “bad guys” now than in the past, the internet just exposes us to more crime stories which makes the world feel more dangerous. It is not actually more dangerous.
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