Too close to home

Yesterday was a tough day here. Around 11am I was sitting at my computer and from where I sit, I can see out the front windows of my house. I noticed a neighbor, Mr. K, walking around his house without a jacket on. I thought it a little strange, since it's VERY cold here, but didn't think much about it. A few minutes later, I looked up again and noticed another neighbor home from work, which is unusual -- it was 11am she normally works until 3:30 or so. Again, nothing alarming - maybe she didn't feel well or had a sick child. But, I looked up again a few minutes later, and saw a police car. Uh oh... I decided to be a nosey caring neighbor and find out if everything was OK. It wasn't. Mind you, I live in Suburbia USA. There are about 20 houses on my street, and I'm at the end where there's a turnaround (cul-de-sac). Normally, there are several of us home during the day, cars are in the driveway, and houses are close enough so we can see what's going on just by looking out our windows. I'm the only house with a wooded backyard -- the rest abutt houses on the streets on either side. So, this isn't an isolated area; it's actually quite busy and open. Neighbor K (wife of the man without the jacket) happened to be looking out her window and saw three kids (14, 15 years old) at the front door of Neighbor N's house. She said at first she thought they might be selling something, but realized they were young and should be in school. So she continued to watch. She watched as one suddenly disappeared through a front window, and came around the inside and opened up the front door for the others!!! They broke into Neighbor B's house! In broad daylight with no less than six cars in driveways in the immediate vacinity! Neighbor K called to her husband (who is retired and home), told him what she saw, and dialed 911. Husband K promptly took off out the door, ran to Neighbor N's house, went INSIDE, and chased the kids out! (Not a good idea, but that's exactly the kind of neighbor he is.) The kids were two boys and a girl (!) and, we learned later, this was the SECOND house they'd broken into that morning! The kids took off running -- one ran behind my house and into the woods, one ran across my front lawn, through another neighbor's yard and into the woods to the side of my house, and I never heard where the third kid went. In the very few minutes they were in that house, they'd grabbed video games, a satellite dish receiver and money. They left their three bikes on the front yard of Neighbor N's house. Bikes -- as in, not old enough to drive, but old enough to break into people's houses. And they dropped a backpack in her yard, which contained Gatorade and an IRON. Yes, a household iron. The police believe the iron was in case someone was in the house -- a weapon! It's amazing that all this happened HERE, in this particular neighborhood. First, there are some VERY rich areas in our town -- million dollar plus homes, and there are some very isolated homes in our town. You would think they would pick one of those areas, wouldn't you? But then, they may have been too far a ride on their bikes! The last I heard, the police had caught the kids. While I was comforting Neighbor N (she was really shaken up), I did hear an officer ask Mr. Neighbor K if you could identify the kids, and later saw Mr. K get into a police car; I assume to go do the identification. Our police department is often commended on how fast they react in these kind of situations. And now - I'm going to get back on my Social Responsibility bandwagon. Where do kids get the idea that this is an OK thing to do?!? After watching this unfold, trying to get past it, I sit down to watch TV and see a commercial for Levi Jeans that is SO irresponsible that I'm dumbfounded. Aside from the girl having sex with a man she doesn't know, the girl is BREAKING INTO AN APARTMENT (watch her when she's at the closed door), then tells the guy and it's just fine with him! Yippy! We broke into this apartment -- now let's have sex! Don't believe me? Watch it for yourself. I'm speechless. What kind of world is my grandson going to grow up in? How on earth can I or his mother or his grandfather protect him from these kind of IRRESPONSIBLE messages? The world is getting to be a very scary place. What are we going to do about it???? And no, I am NOT saying Levi Jeans is responsible for my neighbor's house being broken into today. I am, however, saying that our kids are receiving HORRIBLE, IRRESPONSIBLE, negative messages from the media and no one is doing anything about it. Nevermind what's going on in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, people -- look what is going on in your own homes.