Inviting Isn't It?

Daisy and I went for our usual morning walk yesterday. It was garbage day, so all the trash bags and cans were at the curbs waiting to be thrown into the trucks. As we walked by Daisy took an interest in some things and was scared by others. Obviously the neighborhood had a very good Christmas, judging by the amount of trash. We all know how much wrapping paper fills up in bags. Somehow it takes up more room when it is torn and crunched into balls. Quite a lot of mess it makes.

What struck me more was the fact that I could see so much of what everyone got as presents. Young children got games and puzzles and toys with lights and sounds. Some people got DVD players, Ipods, cell phones, digital cameras, video cameras, video game players, computers, printers and other rather expensive stuff. How do I know this? I saw the boxes. All those boxes sitting at the curb telling every one what each family got for presents. I know so many people just have to get the most up to date electronics and gadgets. Maybe it is a status symbol or maybe they just "gotta have" all that stuff. But...so do thieves. If I can tell what is inside someone's house by a box at the curb so can a crook.

This made me think about a tv story some years ago. A security expert was showing how easy we make it for robbers. Every year people are robbed of things from their house. Sometimes, during Christmas, wrapped presents are taken right from under the tree. But what really gives the bad guys great clues is the fact that people make no effort to disguise or hide the evidence of what the people have bought. Putting a large box that says "flat screen tv" just invites crooks who would like to steal things. The security expert said this is not good. We should always destroy or break down boxes so that it is not so obvious what has been bought.

Most of us don't bother to think about the security issues. We are always told, especially during gift giving season, to keep our purchases in the car's trunk instead of inside the car. If the bad guys can't see it... But we don't take the time to protect our things at home. We really need to be more careful about how we dispose of our trash. We always think it won't happen to us. Really? Maybe not the day after Christmas, but months later some unsavory character will rob us. Then we wonder why. Was it just a random act or did someone see what we bought? Our garbage cans tell the whole story. We need to be more careful.