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Drooling on the Pillow

Monday, November 22, 2004

Go Green Dragons 

I moved from western Pennsylvania to the Jersey Shore when I was ten. One year in Lakewood and then Brick Township until college. In those six or seven years Brick changed a whole lot. It was growing like crabgrass, for one thing. Fast and random. No downtown, just a series of malls connected by downscale developments, senior villages and inadequate roads. The police department had a reputation for, um, heavy handedness. By the time I left there it was also starting to run some more and more impressive crime stats. Mostly redneck crime: titty bars, meth labs, break-ins.

Which is why I was surprised to read in John Shabe's The Jersey Side an entry that says Brick was named one of the safest towns in the nation.

Surprised and delighted. There must be a name for the fallacy that imagines the arc of events to be unchanged even after you stop observing them.

Update: I got a chance to look at the source Mr. Shabe cites. Holy gated community, Batman, according to the Morgan Quitno Awards, Brick Township is the second safest community in the U.S. of A. As I indicated above, I really didn't see that happening. I would have been as inclined to see Brick listed as having the highest per capita of Rhodes Scholars in America. On the other hand, as I said, I lived there from about age 11 to 17. What the hell did I know?

For you Garden Staters, Dover Township and Hamilton Township also made the top 25 safest and Camden is number one on the most dangerous list.
Posted by: Sluggo / 5:18 PM
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