In the wake of recent criminal events, people are being reminded to lock their doors and windows.
Smart advice. But it also makes me angry.
Just because a door is open doesn't mean a stranger has the right to go through it.
An old girlfriend of mine left her car running in front of a West Haven convenience store one day while she went in to buy a pack of smokes, so someone drove off with her car.
A family in Cheshire leaves a door unlocked and they wind up raped and murdered.
At an apartment I used to live in in West Haven, anything that wasn't nailed down -- from patio furniture to outdoor lights to mail -- would disappear immediately.
It reminds me of a scene in the movie Full Metal Jacket, where a drill instructor is berating a soldier for leaving his foot locker unlocked. He tells the soldier, "If it wasn't for people like you there'd be no thievery in the world."
That always intrigued me -- Because there is an opportunity for crime, a crime has to be committed?
It would seem better, to me, to take an alternative approach to such invasion of personal property, and make the punishment so severe that the opportunity for crime would be unappealing because of what would happen if you get caught.
Sure, a door to a house is unlocked, so you have the opportunity to go in and steal something -- but is it worth it if you'll lose your hand?
Which would a would-be car thief value more -- the car or his eyes?
I think you know by now what I would take from a rapist -- would they consider it a worthwhile gamble?
It's just sad that the answer to crime seems to be to keep yourself in a fearful lockdown all the time.
Doesn't it seem unfair that the innocent people are the ones who have to live in fear?
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