In the cycle of modern life, it seems that most things do not disappear. They are merely shelved for a spell. A comical example might be bell bottoms, which seemed to have met their swishy end in the early 70's only to make a comeback around 2000. A strange example would be cars with a rounded shape which started with the Porsches and Volkswagons of the 50's and 60's and made their return in the late 90's in the new Bug and PT Cruiser. A wonderful example is the pleasant cashier, who seemed to have disappeared from large chain stores for a decade or so, only to return and take the fear out of shoppers' eyes.
What concerns me now is that the economy is bad and people are suffering. So far, it had seemed that people had been keeping themselves on the positive side, but the dam was holding too much boiling water. One thing I recently see more often on the streets are people getting more flustered in their cars and willing to lay on the horn or flip the bird. Another is people losing it in the check out line at stores.
The main concern I have is with crime, though. With our consumer culture and my memory of the freewheeling, gotta get that money, 80's, I feel that street violence is going to come back in fashion. Young people's frustration with the lack of opportunity will lead to more drive-by's, accosting of common citizens, and the return of the car-jack.
I agree that the police have done a wonderful job of keeping the streets more protected. Their use of high street presence and overwhelming response are very effective. I wonder that some of that effectiveness, though, has been a concentrated effort on the part of the people to be more civil to one another and teach their children the same. I would also attribute some of it to a better economy and more opportunity.
With the country collectively holding its breath for the past 4 years as unemployment has hovered around 10%, I feel the cycle of street violence's time is coming. Be warned, keep your composure, and be safe out there.
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