I do not like the kind of place this has become.
Not that it was ever perfect, but there was a time not long ago when one
could leave a pair of oars out on the pond overnight
and find them again in the morning.

Now there is no safety, no respect for property.
And no conscience. No one cares about this violation.
It is our new responsibility to keep everything locked up tight,
under bolt and key, in the barn equipped with motion sensors.

Everything left out in the open now is fair game,
and common sense has changed to accept this state of affairs.
We're back in the animal kingdom.

About a week ago a pair of oars was stolen from a little rowboat on Pequot Pond in Westfield, Massachusetts. They belonged to Anna Wilmot, 102 years old, who used them every day. "I just couldn't believe that someone would take my oars," she said. "I had those oars in my boat for years and nobody bothered them."
- from the Associated Press.