That is, as opposed to Torontonians. Let me explain.
It was not my first time in Morden, but it was my first time out past midnight. Alone. At 1:00 a.m. Or thereabouts.
I was forced out by my partner's dog, who decided that it was prime time for poopies. Partner was still about an hour away. So, despite my real, Toronto-level fear of the dark, off we went for poopies.
I armed myself with a flashlight. And my cell phone. And the flashlight on my cell phone. And for a moment I considered trying to find some sort of stick, but the flashlight seemed a sufficient weapon—just in case.
Yes, Mordenites, I can hear you gasping!
I turned on the flashlight as soon as we left the house, but, of course, it wasn't required. Streetlights. A few cars. But no people in sight and no open shops, which was both unnerving (but where would I get help?) and encouraging (maybe I won't need help?).
No Crime?
As we approached the school—darkness. Not complete darkness, of course, since the entranceway was fully lit. But enough darkness to make me nervous, particularly to the side of the building, where I fully expected to see young people doing young-people things. As one would. In Toronto.
None of that, though. Only a field of darkness near the school, where the pup definitely wanted to go, but of which I was much too frightened. Why? I asked myself. People? Coyotes? Bears? I see nothing.
But that was the problem, wasn't it? I couldn't be convinced—poor pup—so we returned, uneventfully, back home, all the while looking over our shoulders.
Describing all this to my partner about an hour later, I blubbered incredulously: Bbbbut... where, at least, are all the up-to-no-good teenagers?
His response, unsurprisingly: At... home? Where else would they be? They've had a hard day.
Oh boy. Someone tell Toronto.
Crime... sort of!
To be clear, in 30+ years of living in my beautiful metropolis, I have rarely felt unsafe, even while out alone at night. But women are taught to be (and, to the great shame of humanity, still have to be) cautious the world over. And I was really never alone alone. There were always buses. There were always people. There were always buses full of people passing periodically—even at 1:00 a.m. Or thereabouts.
Crime is everywhere, of course, especially following the desperation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I was surprised to learn that, in 2022, Toronto and Morden had a similar overall Crime Severity Index (CSI), although Toronto, of course, greatly surpassed Morden in its rate of violent crime (91.7 vs 45.9, respectively). But that's fully expected in a huge, highly populated, unaffordable city lacking in social services and mental health supports... right?
Stay tuned for more on this.
In the meantime, Mordenites, enjoy your (safe) evenings strolls!
I enjoyed your story. I moved from Winnipeg to Niverville recently and can totally relate. To go for a walk at night that had constant movement of traffic and plenty of lights to literally nothing but complete dark and stillness, was more scary and unnerving than anything. I would wait for something to jump out at me through the dark, lol. Of course nothing did. 😆 It is unfortunate that crime is everywhere. Even in this town. I look forward to reading more of your blogs