[truecougarblue]

A quote from the dawn of the petroleum age:

"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." - Sherlock Holmes

Was the bygone benighted brit wrong?

[Tanada]

Of course he was right because it is Human Nature to do bad things no matter if you are in the country or the city. It might show more easily in a city where people are packed together, but any sin you can think of will have someone willing to preform it wherever you find people.

[Fishman]

As much as I love Doyle, he predates Los Angeles. Where every "dreadful record of sin" has ten variants, and is streamed online.

[Pops]

Homey goes on to say:
"The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser."

What's the line?
In space no one can hear you scream.

I'm not sure the entire observation is valid though. Out in the sticks back in the day I'm not sure it was much different than in the city. The one complaint of nearly everyone who grew up in a small town is that everyone knows your business. -See Main Street

Back when (and not that far back) a man's home was his castle and his wife and kids his chattel, as it were, that held in town as well as in the sticks. Isolation made it much harder to get help but for a very long time, perhaps forever, women have been dependent on men for security so they weren't too apt to just up and leave without a good place to go. Feminazis and bleeding hearts and education and more opportunity for women to be self sufficient ruined that good time to a large extent.
--


When I was a kid of 18 or 19 back in the '70s, I went to this beer bar for chili lunches near where I worked. My sisters were flies around the place and I'd known the owners since I was little, they were maybe 15 years older than me. This one day I walked up and everyone was standing around outside in the parking lot and I could hear screaming and crying coming from the adjoining apartment where the owners lived, he was beating the crap out of her and no one was going to lift a hand because you aren't supposed to get involved.

I was a kid though and had a little crush on the lady so I ran in and took a flying leap at the guy who was kneeling over the gal on the floor. He was a damn big guy and had a cast on his wrist from banging on something, he'd been banging on her with that cast. He grabbed me up and boy I thought I was a goner because even though I was just shy of 6' and a mostly lean 190 he could have mopped the floor with me, he'd done it to lots better than me.

Luckily he just said 'Mike, you shouldn't do that.' and walked out. Hehe, I probably peed my pants, but just a little.


Anyway, I'm sure there are lots of places where the rule of mind your own business still applies, both in town and the sticks.

[truecougarblue]

I've been filling my commute the last few weeks with books on tape, and I'm going through Doyles' stories. I had read them as a child but there are very interesting tidbits that I never would have noted before becoming aware of PO.

Good story Pops, thanks.