I've always liked Texas.Now,i know why.

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by DAVID GAGNARD

Buzz; I'm glad you agree with me, but the first part of your sentence was all wrong....

I'm really not mean; crusty, maybe to some degree; middle aged (52) Louisiana CAJUN would be more accurate.......

I live in small town America, population 6,000...we do have our share of crime, mostly drug related crimes, and maybe 2 to 4 murders a year.....it's still too much.......but I feel pretty safe and so does my family here, a lot of times I forget to take the keys out of my car at night and never lock it at home, in town I always take my keys out when going into a store, but rarely lock it...........

David

Thanks for setting me straight, David - I feel like I know you better already!

It used to be quite safe and relaxed down here up until fairly recently. Unlocked cars, open windows at night, front door open all day , whether you are at home or not, and a murder was a relatively rare occurrence that made the news headlines and outraged the country. It's all different now. Lock everything up, security alarm systems and an average of 30-odd murders a year; which, in a population of +/- 175K people, gives us a pretty high per capita murder rate.
People chalk it up to the price of progress, but I refuse to accept that. I think we are allowing it to happen by not standing up to it and fighting for the open, free, relaxed lifestyle we used to enjoy. We still have beach parties at night and into the wee hours of the morning, but in groups. Taking your significant other to a secluded beach for a skinny dip at midnight is no longer advisable, and many of us think its time to take our country back. Good people still outnumber the bad by a huge margin, so if it comes down to it, it shouldn't even be much of a fight. All it takes is the will and fortitude to say "Enough!".