Newspaper Clippings

Rarely will I go out of my way to buy a newspaper, much less on a day other than Sunday when I can get my fix of coupons (when I remember to do so, as I am neither a coupon queen or even a weekly clipper). However, after yesterday's news clip at 5 o'clock about a road rage incident near my job, I felt the need to buy the paper and read the story.

Now, generally my news intake is limited to online news chatter of my choosing: politics, science, weather, sports, perhaps the oddity of people in faraway states doing silly things and thinking "I'm glad they're in [insert whatever state you choose other than Texas] and not here. How embarrassing. That's why I don't trust people from [afore mentioned state]." Sometimes I will watch the news on tv (which is rare; last night I caught the clip while talking to my mom).

After reading the article I was after, I began scanning the rest of section A, and the jalapeno sausage kolache and glazed donut I had just eaten went sour in my stomach as I realized how bad urban San Antonio has become in the 7+ years it's been since I moved to the outskirts. Apparently, Bexar County is the worst in all of Texas for road rage incidents. In addition, upon light scanning of the internet news forums, it seems I live in a fantasy world, thinking San Antonio is not that violent.

How bad is it? On www.neighborhoodscout.com, we have a Crime Index of 2. 2 doesn't sound so high, does it? We can't be that bad. Well, that's on a scale of 1-100 with 100 being the safest. Holy cow, we can't be that bad, can we?! We have a higher per capita rate in murder, rape, robbery, and assault than the national average, which, technically, isn't too terribly bad, but the assault rate is almost double the national average. The property crime is almost double the state average and more than double the national average. The generalized crimes per square mile...triple the national average.

Of course, there are things to be thankful for. So far there only appears to have been 4 or 5 officer related deaths, as opposed to Houston's 6 from July through September alone, bringing the total for 2012 in Houston to 9.

See, this is a horrible way to start off my week. First off, I took yesterday off so today is my Monday. Secondly, and more importantly, as a mother, I have an ongoing fairy tale fantasy in which I believe that even the most evil of people will not harm children. Of course, I know this not to be true, but I like to think it. Mostly because my children leave my house, and because my house is not a fortress castle where I can keep them in turrets and build 30-foot stone walls around us to keep them from harm. When we are in the car, it worries me that we are eggs in one basket. When we are at the grocery store, I keep them close and don't let them stray. Am I being an over-protective mother?

Maybe thirty years ago you could have said yes. But not now. With the explosion in population the rate of crime has naturally increased. But there also seems to be a shadow looming over us. I don't know whether it's just here in San Antonio, in Texas, in the United States, in North America, or the entire world, but there appears to be a steady decrease in morals and steady increase in crime. This worries me to a sickening extreme because with 3 boys and another child on the way, I fear for what place of hopelessness I am leaving them in.