An Insane World!

The world is becoming a really unsafe place to live in and people are becoming even more paranoid. Why am I saying this? Well, this afternoon during lunch, Mrs. Spiff and me were heading to the nearby hypermarket to get some stuff. We totally ran out of food at home and we were too lazy to go out during the holidays.

Now, I live in a neighbourhood that has recently, well, not really recently but a couple of months ago been converted in a guarded community. While I have my issues on this, there are pro’s and con’s to living in a guarded community.

One of them is that secure feeling that you have knowing that there are guards patrolling on their bikes every hour or so and that all the exits and entrances into the neighbourhood has a security post and all that. Makes letting your kids roam the neighbourhood flying their rc helicopters all that much safer.

Now, what I have issues with is the fact that it stops your normal everyday honest to goodness citizen from access through your neighbourhood. It doesn’t happen with my neighbourhood cos the guards open up the barricades in the morning at all the posts and let people come and go though they do take down your cars registration number discreetly.

But very recently, the neighbourhood opposite us also has been converted into a guarded community and while I applaud the whole thing. There is one thing they did that I have issues with. This neighbourhood has about 4 or 5 entrance and exit points and they totally sealed off all but one exit/entrance point and don’t even allow people to just drive into their area!

I find that absolutely ridiculous. There are shops and eating places in that neighbourhood. What if I wanted to drop by the 7-11 there? Would I have to stop, get out, show the guard at the entry point my ID and then prove to him that I’m just going to the 7-11 and not to rob some house there or something? And that area also proves to be a short cut to my place at times.

I can understand the need for security but sealing off the other four entrances completely and restricting people from entering the area is a little way over board. Can’t they just do what the guards at my area do which is to allow access in the neighbourhood in the day time and limited access after midnight? I find that totally acceptable but to completely bar people from just passing through is crazy.

Let’s think of the other people out there who pay their road taxes and now are barred from driving on roads that as far as I’m concerned are public roads. I’m not against this, mind you, in fact I support this. With the way things are in this world, safety and security is very important but to deny everyone access to a public place, road or shop is a little too much.

But then, I don’t blame this people. I’d feel so much safer with security in my place. But what kind of world would we be living in when we have to close ourselves up and are paranoid of just about everyone? I blame this all on our own police force. Just what have they been doing all this while that crime has escalated to a point where people have to resort to hiring their own security to look after their neighbourhood?

If they had been doing their job properly things may not have come to this with people locking themselves in their own little guarded community. Maybe we shouldn’t even have a police force seeing as how they don’t really contribute all that much to keep the place safe. And please don’t tell me they don’t have enough manpower and all that crap. It’s their job to keep us safe. Besides, we all pay taxes anyway, right? Now we have to fork out even more just to hire guards to keep us safe?

I don’t see much hope for the future generations with the way things are going. Maybe I should pack up all my bags and fly off to Planet Zork. Those Zorkian bugs may be smelly as hell but at least they’re honorable critters!