I think there is a false sense of security in TV. Would you leave your open beverage in your car and come back and drink it in any place other than TV? Would you leave your golf clubs? Clothes? Purse? I see that constantly.
As To the hit and run, I am always flabbergasted when I hear about these occurrences because I think retired professionals know better and are better than hoodlums.

I can't help myself. I always lock my car, my house and my bike [not always the bike anymore]. It's an old habit. I touch every metal handle two quick times down here too before I twist it even though I have never had a static electricity shock down here. I wonder when I will stop.
I have found one pocketbook that I got back to it's owner and one man's fanny pack with a few hundred dollars I got back to it's owner and quite a few clubs I turned in or found the owner. My friends down here have stories like that too.
I don't remember finding any purses or fanny packs up north in Jersey. I do think it's very different down here in The Villages but I am still street smart enough not to let down my guard completely.
Someone brought up "lapse of judgement" in the thread about the tragic accident. That stuck with me. I think there are forgivable lapses in judgement all the time in our age group. This seems consistent with all the lost items I found and the behavior of my elders as we matured.

The streets at the Town Squares are open to the public. There are many cars that come from outside the community.
The accident wasn't necessarily caused by a retired professional, could have been a teenager texting. :shocked:

Good point.

My Mom misplaced her purse a few days ago in a local clothing store. Came home crying as she did not know she had just misplaced and but that had thought that perhaps it was stolen. This is clothing store on CR466. We cancelled the credit cards and were on the phone for a long time. The call that someone had turned in her misplaced purse came in after we had cancelled the various credit cards.

I do not believe that the Villages is a bubble but there are a lot of good people here. Bad or people with various problems come in all ages and do live in the Villages. So too do a lot of caring mature men and women who will give you the shirt off their backs.

What is the definition of a bubble?
When I first started teaching I visited a friend at Penn State. The campus was huge with people my own age all over the place. There were places to eat and shop. Doesn't that describe a bubble too? I thought that's what a bubble was.


Or is a bubble more like a mythical place where people believe once inside the bubble the world is perfect and no one will do you harm?

I think what happened to your mother happens everyday here because we all have stories of random acts of kindness like yours. Don't you? You have been here longer after a while do you see things differently?

Just a lot more traffic than in 2005. There are also a lot more outside visitors coming to the Villages especially in Brownwood and Spanish Springs Squares.

The various Universities I have been at-- UNR, BYU, the University of Denver, the College of San Mateo, and the University of Minnesota are more like bubbles as it is usually only students, staff, professors and the occasional event attendant on campus. Here in the Villages, we have people coming in from many of the other communities quite often. And, all the workers keeping the Villages pristine as well. You do not see that many workers on college campuses.

Your theory makes me recall the saying that goes something like 'One can't predict what will happen on any given day'. Most often associated with sports but probably valid on any given day in the Villages, too.