Stolen scooters and loss of security
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The unthinkable and ridiculous happened this past Saturday night - Sunday morning. Another scooter was stolen from our carport.
Yup.
This time, it was Sam’s electric scooter that he had received for Christmas. Adelyn’s identical pink scooter was parked right next to it (and has since been moved from the carport).
I can’t even begin to tell you how aggravated I am about this. We’ve lived in this house for almost seven years, and this is the first time we’ve had to address the issue of security and locks and cameras. Monticello has always been the kind of town that you can leave your doors open and your car unlocked. No more, apparently.
In the past few months, we’ve had good friends who go to Journey (and live next door to one another) have push mowers taken from their carports. The crime wave (and I would have thought it ludicrous before these events to call it that) that has settled in on our community seems to have crashed into a shore of disbelief and inaction.
Daily, we are seeing stories reported in local media about drug busts. Recently, we lost a teenager to a stabbing at a family event over the July 4th weekend due to senseless and uncontrolled rage. Some local youth were caught stealing electronic equipment from businesses and churches. Another man was arrested for sexual indecency with a child. Another group of young adults was arrested for stealing prescription drugs from a local pharmacy. In a town of 10,000.
In response to the stabbing (and probably the collective feeling of fear and loss of security), some members of the community have organized a “Stop the Hate” rally where there will be singing, a candle-light vigil, and speeches from local pastors and community leaders. I applaud their intent. Hopefully, it will be the first salvo fired in our community’s fight to reclaim its moral center.
However, a rally cannot replace our responsibility to be involved. Involved in our community’s welfare. Involved in people’s lives. We must be intentionally involved in life. For some of us, that may mean running for office in the future. For some of us, it may mean holding our existing political leaders accountable for proactive, visionary leadership. For some of us, it may mean confronting dead-beat dads. For casting a personal vision for kids and teens that is greater than what they see on TV, in the sports world or through fashion.
This loss of security we are all feeling in our community should provoke acts of heroism. For many, it simply means speaking up. Whether in confrontation, encouragement, suggestion, or contribution, your voice, vote, and values can only count and make a difference if you speak up and follow through.
Now… if anyone wants to contribute to the scooter fund… ;)
More entries from Scooter Saga series
- Mo’ love through a moped
- Ghost is back..
- Gas pump relief
- Stolen wheels
- A Ghost of a chance
- Stolen scooters and loss of security
- Scooter life
- New wheels (again)
- The scooter that love bought
July 30th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I strongly agree with the fact that we need people to get involved. Maybe we can set an example with these thieves and put a little fear into the hearts and minds of anyone who would think about taking from someone else. We should also as churches and a community of believers look to join together more often to devise a plan to bring back the community of morals that has seemed to left us.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:14 am
As I was watching a little kid drive a white moped down the road the other day,I was wondering-How many white mopeds there were in town?!?!?!?!
K.T.s last blog post..Childbirth classes and mood swings
July 30th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I am so sorry this happened. I guess a pink scouter wasn’t macho enough. These hoodlums had better watch out when they start stealing from my grandkids!!!
I too thought Monticello was a small town free from most of the crime that exists in larger towns and cities like Little Rock. One of our neighbors recently sent a note to everyone in our area that late one night they watched from an upstairs window as a guy ran up to their porch and took a ornate urn and plant (of all things) from their front porch and then sped off in a car driven by someone else. We rarely ever leave our garage door up because neighbors have reported things stolen from their garage in the middle of the day. It’s an indictment on our society that these kinds of things have become so common-place..
July 30th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
*cough* it’s the economy *cough*
Michael Burnss last blog post..A Day Out Of Town
July 30th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
sorry for the theft issues jeffro. i gave up a long time ago on the notion of the “sleepy little town” where there’s never any crime. bygone era. but that does not absolve anyone in the community from trying to make things better.
deans last blog post..the groundskeeper, with the hedge trimmer, in the front yard
July 31st, 2008 at 3:58 pm
That is awful… It is so hard to understand how someone believes it is acceptable to take something that doesn’t belong to them. There seems to be such little thought anymore for how one’s actions affect others. Not just actions, but words and attitude for that matter. We live in a society that teaches kids that they are entitled to have everything they want (because even with a horrible economy we still have a lot of money to buy crazy things for our kids, for no real reason at all) and they grow into greedy, entitled, adults. When people can’t afford things they feel entitled to, they simply take them from others.
I know far too well the horrible things that happen daily in this “sleepy little town.” Knowing the HUGE numbers of drunk drivers we have each and everyday, at all hours of the day and night, driving the same highways as the rest of us (Sunday after church is a really dangerous time to drive, by the way.) just makes my stomach turn. Knowing how many HIGH POWERED people there are doing serious drugs along with the usual suspects, just makes me shake my head.
Our friends always joke with Clayton and me about his “evidence locker” that is located on the top of MY bookshelves by his desk. Each day something is placed there that was taken from someone off of the highway. It varies from drugs (marijuana, cocaine, xanax, you name it) to weapons like guns, knives, bats, brass knuckles, and things of that nature.
The actual surprise, sadly, is not that your scooters were stolen, but that they were JUST stolen after all of these years. Unfortunately, I have a general distrust for society after seeing what my husband deals with on a constant basis. I could write a book over what I think all of the reasons for this are, but I’ve already taken up WAY too much space here. lol
Mandys last blog post..The Last Five