If people are having their bikes stolen, that’s not paranoia. I would not want to live in such a neighborhood and it’s always a little shocking to me to see this type of commentary on Hacker News where low level theft and vandalism appears to be accepted as just how life is. It definitely doesn’t have to be.
The majority of low-level theft and vandalism is by bored teenagers in their own neighborhood.
The worst petty crime I ever had to deal with was living next to a middle school in a nice neighborhood in Houston. There were car windows smashed all the time by middle and even upper-middle class kids walking home from school and seeing something shiny in the passenger seat.
It sucks, but it’s not a good justification for being afraid of “those people.” Turns our those people is us.
In my neighborhood there are very few teenagers. The bike thieves, package thieves and car ransackers are either actual thieves (with lookouts), or addicts. People like to blame bored teenagers, but given my city has one of the lowest percentages of teenagers in the country but yet this happens, indicates it’s something else (proven by the pictures and videos posted by neighbors).
Indeed. For many people, it's not just 'a bike', it's their only method of transportation to work, to the shops and across town. Price difference aside, it's like taking somebody's car.
yes, it can definitely still be paranoia even if there's occasional theft. We don't live in a utopia where crime never occurs, that doesn't justify a paranoid mindset.
It's akin to the constantly jealous boyfriend or girlfriend who keeps track of everything their partner does. Even if they catch one cheating eventually, it doesn't change the fact that the constantly suspicious state of mind is pathological.
