Changes in the world
Jan 23rd, 2010 by elle
The world seems to be changing, and not for the better.
When I first moved back to my home city nine years ago with my fiancé, it was the place I remembered from my childhood. Known for being particularly cold, historic, and pleasant, it was a great place to live and I was proud to have suggested to my fiancé that we move here. But in recent times it has changed dramatically from what it was.
There is a sky-rocketing crime rate, and you can’t pick up a local news paper without hearing about another series of shop-font windows being smashed, or teenagers stealing cars or something like that. It’s utterly insane, and frightening. We’re in a smallish city, about an hour out of the capital, and right now my fiancé and I feel like we’d be better off moving to the capital to ensure we aren’t robbed… again.
Oh yes, I recently discovered that my fiancé and I’s mountain bikes had been stolen, by little hoodlums who’ve got a reputation for stealing bicycles and even going so far as to strip the bikes down and swapping over parts to make them less easy to discover or trace… I mean really!? And these hoodlums are all 12 or under, and they’re already thieving and are well known across the city for it…
The other reason that this all bothers me is that the local judicial system just isn’t cutting it. These people who are getting into brawls – or randomly attacking people – are getting 2 or 3 month suspended sentences! That’s insane! There was a news story recently in my city of a child, 14 years old, who was on probation for previous offences, being in court for multiple counts of burglary which culminated in the theft of a car which he drove into a factory and stole from as well, being given less than fifty hours community service and not even being put on probation again as it ‘hadn’t dissuaded him previously’!? I mean come on, what’s with the lameness of that!? I think that kid should have had not just the book, but the entire encyclopaedia thrown at him!
Now to break up the dreariness of that post, I have to post a cute safety knitting pattern. Mini Traffic Cones are a great way to encourage your cat to only stay in the safe zones, no, that’s not right, play with these little toys! Yep, that’s right, though no cat nip, now, as it’s not fair to drug your animals for fun.