On a recent trip across the country to visit relatives in California we were prepared for the worst: car-jackings, robberies, assaults, theft, property damage, and even a possible homicide, but we didn't leave the freeway or go into any major city so we didn't experience these types of crimes. Instead, we went through an ocean side city where our relatives lived, one of them lived in a gated community whereas the other one lived on a city block exposed to urban crime.
We felt safe inside the gated community, but were immediately on edge when we went to visit the other relative living on a city block. We were told to leave our cars unlocked with nothing inside or else thieves would break into your car and take what they could find; we were also advised to keep all exterior doors and windows locked due to break ins or wandering vagrants. Recently we discovered that one of our relatives was involved in a school shooting and had to hide under his desk for over two hours while his parents were outside waiting for police to clear the building.
Life had changed for my relatives living inside the city unprotected from vagrants, thieves, gang members, and drug addicts. We were told that they were planning to move out of the country and that crime in America had become so bad that it effected their quality of life. Long gone was the attitude of restorative justice, of giving others a second chance, of rehabilitation, of community service-there was now just plain lawlessness and despair!
During our visit we encountered a mentally unstable man yelling "Fuck You" for over ten minutes (outside the gated community) and saw a verbal domestic escalate into a property damage and assault with a deadly weapon (huge rock); we also observed a man allowing his dog to defecate in the middle of an intersection while traffic was held up. On the way to the local supermarket we observed a male lighting up a meth pipe right at the front entrance way with not a care in the world.
Once a vibrant seaside community, this vacation destination was now snarled with traffic, and vagrants at every corner waiting to prey on you as you dared to enjoy your summer vacation.
As our visit came to an end, we loaded up the car and made our way out of the crazy city and looked for refuge on the congested freeway until we got into Nevada later that night.
We breathed a sigh of relief that we made it home in one piece and that neither one of us had to discharge our concealed firearms or become a victim of crime. We enjoyed watching America go by from the car window, but could not bring ourselves to explore any cities due to the level of crime around the country. Maybe one day it will be like it was!
