I don't think anyone should become laissez faire when it comes to personal safety though, or safeguarding their children. For example, I love to walk - I can walk for miles as a lone female quite happily with my dog. It drives my husband to distraction as he, of course, being a loving and cautious husband and father, would not want me to put myself in any danger. We're not in Utopia, wherever we are. In the UK for example, I would still walk alone (even though at one point it was a nightmare as we were living with the threat of a serial rapist in our area praying upon lone women walking with their dogs, often in broad daylight). At that point, I was armed (I won't tell you what with, as I don't want to get into trouble) but I was buggered if I was going to give up the enjoyment that I had strolling with my dog for some sick opportunistic ******* to take that away from me. I think the difference between the UK feeling and here where I am now is that I walked with my eyes opened in the UK (and something in my hand) and in areas which were not completely isolated. Here, I walk through the woods, up hills and down vales, and I still keep my eyes open as old habits are hard to break, but I no longer carry a weopon and I'm not at Def Con 1 every time a person walks towards me on the same path, which I must add, is a very rare occurance - and when it does happen it's usually meeting with a smile and a buenos/buenas whenever the time might be. Bottom line, very different mindsight and comfort level, but not blindness in any case....cos you never know.

I would add however, that my OH's family asks me now not to walk through the woods alone - they know that even in this area times are changing, as they all have mass media exposure and even though it isn't this area, per se, they feel it might just be a matter of time. Reason being, of course, unlike in their youth, the bad news can come to you now with roads and car ownership being commonplace, unlike in their time when it was only for wealthy folk... We have had violence news from the nearby city, relating to domestic violence, rape, etc and so the TV brings everything closer...and it does leave one wondering how long our little piece of paradise will remain so.

The thing about our previous life in the UK is though, that however freely the children seem to run around here and enjoy their youth for longer, my eyes are always on my three - and constantly looking over my shoulder. I will never take where I am for granted when it comes to our safety.

Having said all that, I think we're a long way off (hopefully never to reach it) the scenario where kids walk around with knives, where being pissed and creating havoc on the high street, attacking a stranger for a laugh, or punching someone's lights out accusing someone of jumping a supermarket queue, is a daily occurance. I talk with my parents back in the UK, obviously, and it's frightening how often they tell me of someone who's been randomly attacked/knifed in a place where I grew up and sure, there were fights, and people got hurt (sometimes badly, sometimes killed), but it didn't have the wild west feeling of today where it's become the norm, rather than the exception.

Tally.x

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