Re: One more good reason for those who do NOT live in cohousing to know their neighbors better.
From: Diana Carroll (dianaecarrollgmail.com)
Date: Wed, 8 May 2013 06:29:01 -0700 (PDT)
By all accounts, the kidnapper was actually pretty well known in his
neighborhood.  The man who actual rescued the women lived next door.  He
had lived there a year and had had barbecues and listened to music with the
guy...which is actually not something that would have happened in my old
suburban neighborhood before I moved to cohousing.  He knew the guy's
comings and goings, seen kids playing in his backyard, etc.   Both the perp
and the rescuer had the level of connection with his neighborhood that I
actually consider pretty desirable...and even so NO ONE KNEW WHAT WAS
REALLY GOING ON!

Heck, apparently even the perp's family was "blindsided" if they are to be
believed.

Which means, unfortunately, that mere neighborliness is not enough to
detect evil in the house next door.  This of course has me wondering if
something like this was going on in my very own neighborhood -- would I
know?  I know all my neighbors by name, know something of their histories,
proclivities, interests.  I know what car they drive and whether they are
vegetarians and where their kids go to school...but I am NOT CONFIDENT that
I would know if they were keeping someone prisoner in their attic.

Which scares the hell out of me.  But also makes me reject the notion that
cohousing specifically, or community and neighborliness in general, is
enough to make us aware of "the evil men do".

Diana


On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 8:04 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:

>
> Hi Joani (and all!)
>
> Here's an amazing new piece of information according to an NPR report this
> morning.  One neighborhood boy who grew up next to the house where the
> girls were kept said the main man accused in the kidnapping was always
> friendly.   He asked him about school, when he was older if he was dating,
> and older still if he was going to college.   So it's not just knowing your
> neighbors a little bit more it's REALLY knowing them.  More than just a
> "hi! howya doin'?"
>
> This imperative we have about privacy is complex.  Of course, I believe
> people have private lives and what goes on in their home is their business.
>  But where's the line?  In some ways I think our privacy is killing us and
> in other ways I think the world is way too invasive.  I'm still chewing on
> this.
>
> I've been wondering what ever happened to the Austrian girl who was kept
> in the basement of the man's home for many years, had several children by
> him?  His wife claimed she didn't know anything about the situation.
> Remember that story?
>
> Best --
>
> Ann Zabaldo
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC
> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
> Falls Church VA
> 703-688-2646
>
> On May 7, 2013, at 8:33 PM, Joani Blank wrote:
>
> >
> > Charles_____who initiated the rescue of the kidnapped
> > women in Cleveland, says in this interview, "I know
> > something is wrong when a little bitty white girl runs
> > into a black man's arms!"
> >
> >
> http://www.upworthy.com/must-watch-3-young-women-missing-for-10-years-and-locked-in-house-freed-by-awesome-good-samaritan-2?c=upw1
> >
> >
> > Also, I can't help but think that this kind of horror
> > (plus more 'ordinary' incidences of sexual and domestic
> > violence) would be nipped in the bud more frequently if
> > people everywhere knew their neighbors even a little
> > bit better---which is why I'm posting this on the
> > cohousing listserve.
> >
> > --
> > /_______________________
> > Most people don't know there are angels whose only job
> > is to make sure you don't get too comfortable & fall
> > asleep & miss your life./
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> >
> >
>
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