As we were out on van patrol yesterday I saw lots of people walking around the streets of the North End. Now this practice, is considered to be unsafe. I would be petrified to walk around the streets of the North End at 3AM. But, I also wouldn't do that anywhere. My pondering led me to wonder about whether people walking around at all hours of the night is a sign of a healthy or unhealthy community. Ideally, we would have a city in which it was safe to walk alone at 3Am... but is it a good idea regardless of whether or not it is safe? I'm just not sure...
What is a safe community anyway. Is a safe community simply somewhere in which you don't have to worry about getting mugged for that pair of Nikes you're wearing or is it something deeper. I'm a firm believer in emotionally safe communities. Place in which people are free to be who they are and share and express their believes without fear of persecution. Communities need to be spiritually safe. Communities need to be a place of education; education which is holistic and well rounded. Communities need to be loving and supportive and friendly. Is there really such a place?
1 comment:
In the suburb I grew up in walking around at 3 am would be super safe. But it was so unusual that if a cop saw you they'd pull over and bother you. I heard a lot of stories from friends who were walking home at night getting given a hard time.
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