It's difficult for me to fathom a time where people didn't lock their doors at night,

and everyone knew their neighbors so well that they ignorantly left their children alone with them.

Or better yet, just let their kids roam

the streets when they were still practically in diapers. I grew up in a completely different time,

wearing if I got into a car with someone who my parents didn't put through an FBI background

check first, they probably would have killed me, and it would have been warranted.

My father used to tell me of the times when he was a kid growing up in the 60s and the 70s, where he would hitchhike.

Nothing bad ever happened to him. He was lucky.

We all have heard countless tales of people getting into cars and they simply vanish into thin

air at the hands of strangers.

That's why I was always told not to speak to people I do not know, not to get into a car

if someone offers me a ride, offers me candy, or even if they claim to lose a damn puppy,

as tempting as that would be.

Don't go into a secluded area with someone. Don't let anyone lure you into an unknown situation.

And that makes sense to me with 100% clarity now that I'm an adult. Personally, I don't understand why anyone would get into any type of vehicle with someone or even walk off of the person they don't know.

That whole scenario is beyond me.

Children will sometimes take things at face value due to their lack of knowledge of the true darkness of the world.

But there are instances

where the situation doesn't fit the typical mold, especially of a hunter and their prey. For instance,

if you were a kid and someone you knew came trudging along, someone you knew very well,

someone your parents liked and had befriended, someone they trust, but unbeknownst to them,

they shouldn't. You wouldn't think twice about spending some time alone with them,

...