Our front door swings open when the wind blows. So we always lock the deadbolt. One windy night we forgot. We went to sleep and woke up in the morning to find the front door wide open. The house was cold but everything was in its place. I thought: "How lucky that we live in a safe neighborhood!"
Those were the innocent days. The days of saying "Hello!" to strangers on the sidewalk. Of answering the knocks of Halloween trick-or-treaters. Of thinking that the noise in the distance when we're walking the dog is the rustling of leaves.
Those days are over.
Was our home burglarized? No. Was my car broken into? No. Well, actually I don't know because the interior of my car always looks like it's been ransacked (Note: Clean car this weekend). Was I (Jeebus forbid) assaulted? No! Unless you consider it an assault for yoga instructors to drop off schedules on the porch.
So what changed?
A few months ago, I signed up for Nextdoor.com, the online incarnation of neighborhood watch. My inbox today has 17 emails from Nextdoor.com. Twelve have the subject line "Arrest Made Saturday Night." Others are links to posts like "Suspicious person afoot," "Scary hang-up phone call" and "Did anyone else just hear gunshots?"
I know. Information is good. And criminals could be anywhere. But now I'm paranoid. I used to enjoy the view from my front window. Now I'm thinking: Is that a nice couple strolling to the restaurant on the corner for a date night? Or a pair of well-disguised serial killers? Are those adorable kids on Hello Kitty bikes circling around for exercise or searching for their next victim? Really, senior citizen? You expect me to believe that's a cane?
C'mon, grandma. I'm on Nextdoor.
Today I surfed the web for security cameras, trained Rottweilers, pepper spray and Harry Potter protection spells. Hardening the target, as my most recent email from the police department calls it.
My daughter asked -- begged, really -- that I stop logging onto Nextdoor.com, arguing that living in fear is no way to live. Ha! What's her angle!
Needless to say, I'm keeping an eye on her.
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