A coward's day

London had trouble with al-Qaida today. While it wasn't a massive casualty event like Sept 11, 2001, it was more spread out and possibly more frightening because of it. I respect the fact that Britain isn't backing down like many other countries have done. The best way we can fight terrorism is to stand up to them and not let them change the way we live our lives.

What is it about these cowardly zealots that believe in randomly killing people? Do they really believe that what they're doing is right? I don't see how a reasonable person can have such beliefs and because they are unreasonable, I don't believe that traditional or reasonable reactions will work in dealing with them.

The "free world" has enjoyed their care-free and apathetic lifestyle for too long. It's made us soft and now that softness has been turned into a weakness. I believe it is everybody's duty to stand up and speak out whenever they see something that isn't right. They need to take action when people act suspiciously or exhibit tendancies towards violence. It doesn't mean that we have to be like the police; we should take more care to notice things around us and not just "let things slide" when they shouldn't be happening.

A simple example would be with my neighborhood, or more specifically my street. It seems that the street I live on is a popular place for what I call "RV Nomads" to park their rolling homes and camp out for up to weeks on end. Often times these people create unsavory environments that wouldn't ordinarily happen on my block. Some of these things, like prostitution or drug dealing, seem to have been transpired by these types of people, which I won't stand for. I don't live in a bad neighborhood, in fact the price for new homes in my area start in the mid $700,000's (even though I live in an apartment). So the idea of just putting up with or turning a blind eye to activities that are often linked with dangerous results isn't something I'm about to do.

This isn't me saying I'm a hero or anything, since what I do is something simple and can be done by any citizen: CALL THE POLICE AND REPORT IT. I give an RV 3 days to sit on my street (which is the legal max one can park a recreational vehicle on a street in my town) and if it isn't gone, I call the police and let them know. I do this every time without fail now. When I see something suspicious happening, I call the cops. When I hear a lady running down the street screaming and a guy following her, I call the cops. Get the picture?

I'm surprised to learn when I talk with some people that they just think it isn't their place and that they don't want to get involved. What is wrong with these people? It isn't the 3rd grade where tattling isn't "cool" to do. This is for the safety of yourself, your family and your fellow neighbors. Wouldn't it haunt you to know if the one time you thought "it isn't my place to say something" and didn't call the cops when you thought you should have and a kid gets abducted, or a teenage girl gets raped, or a young man gets killed, etc? I know I'd have a difficult time dealing with it.

Wake up people! Terrorism is one result of a complacent society that's sat around in relative luxury for decades, while ignoring a stewing cauldron of resentment. There are local problems too, that are a result of the same type of attitude. Maybe we can start the right kind of attitude in our own neighborhoods by not putting up with the bullshit. A group of neighborhoods makes a city, a group of cities make a state, a group of states make a country. Let's start where we CAN make a difference and the results will build up at higher levels as a result!

This entry was brought to you by the pissed off little voice
in Gabe's head that just couldn't be silenced anymore.