WoN

Unfortunately, in the US we have 285 million people or some number thereabouts. There are kooks everywhere. Not a lot of them, they are statistically insignificant, but there nonetheless. And if a kook is intent on poisoning some kids all he or she has to do is use a hypodermic needle to inject something into a candy bar right through the wrapper. Then the candy goes into the sack with a bunch of other candy. The parents have no idea whence it came, but it kills a couple of kids.

Statistically insignificant quickly becomes very significant when it's your kid or the kid of someone you know.

Theo and Sasha, who are almost 6 and almost 4 respectively, will go well-chaperoned only to houses of people we know and trust. Luckily we are pretty outgoing about our neighbors and know quite a few people.

I once wrote an article about the Oklahoma City bombing which had in it how people could be better citizens. In our neighborhood of single family dwellings, most people can see about ten to twelve houses from their own front door. Most of the people do not know more than one or two of that dozen. I urged people to make their neighborhoods better by making an effort to meet their neighbors. It is from these beginnings that a sense of community arises.

It's a sad thing when you don't know the name of the person who lives across the street from you.

Ted


TEd