Mayberry USA

I wait on alot of police where I work. Very small town. Large police force. All different kinds. The come in and they get their discount. This is a lovely little bucolic, rural town. These cops know everyone by name. They are active in the community and it's goings on. Now, I have never been a huge police fan. I must admit however, there is litte to no crime where I live. These men and women have their beats. It is sort of Mayberryish..(not a real word). Since moving from a big urban city and seeing the police totally overwhelmed, waking up to numerous shootings on the news, this amazes me. They keep this town safe. I never felt that way in Baltimore. People still leave their doors unlocked here. Everyone also owns a gun. Men and women equally. If you break into someone's home here, you will get shot. That is quite the deterrent. Yes, there are a few areas one wouldn't want to tread into down here, but the police here actually outnumber the "bad guys". The people in this town are as a whole are very conservative. I live in a town where Yes' Ma'am and Yes Sir is the norm. There are parts of me that still get homesick, but I am also starting to see the value in a much simpler way of life. I recall a certain member of the blogging community mentioning that he was thinking about selling his home, so when he passed, his wife would be safe. It's a damn shame that somone would have to sell their home that they have lived in their whole life, just for personal safety. I enjoy the fact that the neighbors on either side mind their business, but if you need help, they are right there, by your side. Maybe that sense of community is what is lacking in our larger cities. There was a time when all communities didn't have an offical neighborhood watch. It simply was done. There was personal responsibility. The children of the community belonged to everyone who lived there. What happened?