Security

I was infuriated to read in the local paper today about another visitor to Vicksburg being mugged. An elderly retiree from another state suffered a broken arm and a facial cut requiring stitches. This is the second mugging of a tourist this year. Is that any way to treat our guests?

I know that this might not be unusual in many places, but this is a fairly new phenomenon in my small city. Mugging is something I used to think of as only occurring in places like New York City. Something I had only seen on TV.

But, now, mugging has come here, and it makes me mad. There was a time when you were almost 100% safe around town, as long as you stayed away from the few "historically" bad areas. Now, my church has had to hire a security guard to help keep our members safe when they are attending church functions at night.

I used to feel safe making a trip to the grocery at night as long as I parked in a well lit area and tried to enter and exit the store with other people. Now, since there have been a couple of strong arm robberies in the parking lot of my favorite store (in a good area of town!), I no longer feel free to do this. All because of a few punks wanting to steal a few bucks instead of working for them.

And the ironic thing is, many people around these parts would be happy to give someone a few dollars if they were asked politely.

But don't knock an elderly lady down and try to take her purse.

What goes around comes around. And you punks will get yours.