Hey, children! Back after two weeks! We talk turkey (lol), and get only a little political. Then Tony does a very problematic voice, and later… well, you saw the title. Enjoy!
QUESTIONS:
If they ever became fashionable for men would you wear high heels? –Anonymous
What would you choose: to lose all of your past memories, or never have any new ones? –Cawfee
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William said that crime, poverty and drug use in rural areas has increased since the 1970s and Tony said it was true in all areas. I think that is probably not true of crime. I know that crime rates generally have been decreasing since the early 90s. I’m not sure what it is for rural areas in particular.
https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/americas-faulty-perception-crime-rates
Well, in relation to crime, it could very well be that my data is outdated… I’m basing my observations on strong anecdotal evidence and articles like this one:
http://farmprogress.com/story-fbi-rural-crime-rate-increasing-14-57311
… which, you’ll note, is soon to be five years old.
An increase in drug use and a decrease in financial security in US rural areas is easier to substantiate:
https://mic.com/articles/65703/how-much-meth-does-your-state-cook-these-maps-show-the-drug-s-foothold-in-america#.VQeRQOqR6
https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being/poverty-overview/
But I also have to say this… I remember there being crimes in my area when I grew up — mostly property crimes — and I do recall how we reacted to them, which was: we really didn’t react to them at all. We still kept our doors unlocked. We didn’t buy security systems or stock up on guns and ammo. We just shrugged our shoulders and said, “Ah, that’s a shame. But it happens sometimes.” I think there’s something to be said for modern over-reactions to certain isolated events… a contemporary tendency to turn every verifiable misdeed into a “trend” or a “wave”.
I like both pants and skirts/dresses. One thing I really like about dresses over either pants or skirts is the “put one thing on and you’re done” aspect. I used to like jumpsuits for the same reason.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to lean more toward skirts and dresses a bit because pants often have the problem that they don’t allow the knee joint to move completely freely (unless the pants are incredibly big and billowy) and by the end of the day my knees are hurting. Unfortunately, this is especially true with jeans.
Hope everything is OK, Tony!