The Kindness of Strangers

[dyvinesweetness]

I think that people tend to drastically underestimate the honesty and integrity of people in general, including themselves. I think people are naturally "good" and that social circumstances are what prevents the inherent "goodness" from coming through. And my forgetful oblivious ass is full of great examples that reveal this

Comments

[richirch2]

Although, I don't feel comfortable doing that now in Harlem, I feel a little more comfortable doing that than leaving the door of my house (in Detroit) unlocked during the day (while I'm there or not). Probably because 1)the lock on the building door, and 2) so many people so close allows you to put your guard down a little.

When there is more than one person at home, we usually leave the back door to our house open if someone is in the den or close by... We also usually have multiple loaded guns in the house too, lol. My neighborhood really isn't bad crime-wise either. I don't remember hearing of a break-in on our street since the late 80s (when my father caught someone burglarizing our next door neighbor's house in the middle of the night).

Other than that back door, all doors always locked. The front door was rarely unlocked whether someone was nearby or not, which is crazy because someone is probably a lot less likely to try and run through our front door than our back door. We would leave the big door open, but rarely ever do we unlock the storm door. Our side door is only open on holidays (when something is usually burning and we have to air out the kitchen, lol).