The Boogie Man is Real

I don’t feel safe anymore.  

The news is full of murder and death. Somebody, somewhere is being shot right now. And all the bad shit keeps getting closer and closer to home.

Why is this? Are people angrier than they used to be? More desperate? More fed up? Probably. 

It wasn’t always like this. At least not how I remember it. Back in the day we never locked our doors. The only thing protecting our family from a wandering psycho was a cheap screen door and a dog with a big bark. But we weren’t scared. Because we didn’t need to be. 

Back then, the boogie man under our beds was only in our heads.
Now, the boogie man is real and he lives three houses down.

Maybe I’m overreacting a bit. Maybe I’m not. One of the many less-than-desirable character traits of being an overthinker is the ability to make something out of nothing. I do that. Like all the time. So I realize my fears are probably a little overblown. But that doesn’t mean they’re not real. 

That smelly dude going door-to-door collecting money to save the bees – does he really love bees, or is he just trying to get a good look at all the stuff he could steal?

Why do cars pull up to the house down the street, knock on the door, go in for 20 minutes, then leave? Are they stopping by to say hi? Or is there a full-blown meth lab in the dining room? 

Is that little kid on the bike packing heat? 

Come on! What the hell is going on here? What happened to me? What happened to us?!

I don’t want to be this way, but I don’t know how not to be. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the guy who just shot that other guy in the mall parking lot won’t let me. 

I don’t want to be afraid. I want to walk down the street with my head held high and greet people I meet with a smile and a hello, with no fear of confrontation. I want to trust in the goodness of the bee lovers of the world, no matter how bad they smell. I want to get a warm fuzzy when I see somebody stopping by a friend's house for a quick visit, even if they are doing meth. (At least they’re spending quality time together, right?)

So listen up, boogie man – enough is enough. You don’t scare me anymore! You got that? I’m gonna do my best to assume you’re a good guy until you prove me otherwise. Deal? Cool. 

Now please put that gun down and let’s talk about this. Nobody needs to get hurt here. 

JS