Ground crews,Fantasy?

One thing that I've noticed, being that I've lived in a variety of places, is the the sensitivity to "outside noise" and neighbourly comraderie. I am now in a city, but in a smaller suburb of this city. When I hear something strange going on outside, I go out to see what it is. No matter which time I've done this, I've often (actually always) been standing outside, most often in the dead of night, by myself. I've looked around to see if people are on their patios or peeking out windows, but nothing.

Now, when I go home to my small home town and a strange noise - or practically any noise for that matter (ambulance, fire trucks, the neighbours dog) people are up and out the door! The neighbours come outside, ask each other questions, find out where things are happening, who's involved, you name it. Not only that, but when I lived in Red Deer, AB, a drunk crashed his truck through a cement barricade a block away and bailed. I don't think I've ever seen so many people come outside, run down the street, call 911, run to the truck, talk to the neighbours, ,etc, etc - we were in our pj's and slippers - it was great.

Maybe people in the city are too sensitized, I just don't know. I get to know every single neighbour I've ever had. Not every neighbour, but at least one that I talk to regularly, and I get familiar with faces and comings and goings. You need to have someone to go to in an emergency, or even if you need an egg. In fact, my neighbour borrowed one egg from me a few months ago, then came back the next day to give me an egg back. I explained that I didn't want it back, I wanted her to know she could come to me if she needed to and I'd be happy that she did. I'm not perfect and have noticed that I am getting sensitized, as well. When we were home and my Mom hopped up to see where the ambulance was going, I turned to my husband and commented, "We've really been in the city too long because we don't jump anymore when an emergency vehicle goes by". However, on a positive note, when our building was being targeted by an arsenist, all the neighbours congregated outside and talked to each other...and you know what? The arsenist was a neighbour, he had ingratiated himself to everyone, stolen money, let his friends into the garage to steal our property, you name it - and, he was the first to call 911 when the fires started! Nevertheless, we were onto him and he was caught. So, I really don't know. It's important to know who your friends are, to be open to meeting others with similar views as yourself and to be cautious. As for the internet, of course we can't be certain who anyone is online, but we do know that there are people from around the world who care about the same issues and want to make a change. This is promising. This is the precursor to change. This is a tool that will help us to get where we need to go.