Is it better to know?

On the weekend, I got talking to a neighbour who said that he no longer listened to the news or read the newspaper. There was just too much negativity in the world and the media dwell on it. I agree with him.

We also talked about our little neighbourhood park which is currently under threat by a mega-grocery store being built nearby. I mentioned that while I like the park, I almost never go there, even as a shortcut because the few times I have done so, there have been older kids lurking there and I feel unsafe.

Now. If I didn't read the newspaper or listen to the news, I probably would not know about the swarmings that happened in this town last year, or about the fellow who has been exposing himself to young girls this last few weeks. I would not know about the man who was attacked for no apparent reason while walking home in broad daylight and left seriously hurt. So. If I didn't know these things, I might go to the park more often, in fact, I might even go and sit in the park by myself and read or watch the birds or something. It would not occur to me that the kids lighting the fire a few yards away might not want me to see what they are doing. I'd be a Pollyanna. Would it show on my face and keep me safe?

I've stopped reading newspapers before -- I particularly remember during the Gulf War. I had had it up to here with killing and death and resolved not to watch any more. Maybe it's time to stop again. The problem is, I'm already cynical (like you wouldn't believe), so I doubt it would make me a more trusting person. Certainly, everything I hear now only serves to reinforce what I believe about human nature. That it is inherently self-serving and destructive to anything and everything around it. But more about that another day.