Reality check

Actually Tash the Police told me off for chasing the robbers. They told me they were armed. I would probably do it again. The look of horror on the little girls face made me so angry.

Some years ago we lived at Northmead, loved it but the house was too small. One day our neighbours plucked up the courage and asked us if everything was alright at home. I assured them it was and asked why they would ask. They then sheepishly said, "well we often see Police cars outside your house". Oh my, too funny. I then explained to them we did emergency foster care and often the Police would come, late at night more often than not, with a child whose parents had just been arrested.

They were relieved and I laughed.

The closest we got to being a victim of crime there was one night at 4am when my wife told me someone was playing with the tap outside our bedroom window. I raced out wearing nothing but boxer shorts. A startled man screamed, which made me scream. He then said, "Rick, its me Danny, your hose was running so I turned it off for you"

Danny was our milk delivery man. I am not sure who got the biggest fright. Me finding a man in the yard or him seeing me in my boxer shorts. i tend to think he did.

My wife laughed herself silly.

Re Reality Check. Yes this is reality for some of the people for some of the time but thank God there are other realities that are true for us too. These people were lucky that you and your family were there for them. Do take care of yourselves too.
Firie - Yes Decent people DO live here. US. We have been in our area which is also Houso's Area for about 3 and a half years now. Bought here because the house met our needs and was what we could afford. Luckily we are in a very quiet culdersac with most of the people here being long term residents. We have never had a problem round here and I have really only ever seen Feral Kids, A drug deal a few streets away late at night and a few people walking round with a carton of beer in an old pram. I suppose that is a way to get it home if you don't have a car. I am not too quick to judge unless someone is getting hurt. Our friends however who live the other side of the railway line have had numerous problems around their street which have them quite concerned. Until we can afford to move away we will be here for now and really we were lucky with this street we are in.
Yes you are fortunate too being in the mountains.
And Rick you did a great job. Hope the guy on the bike and the young girl will both be OK.
All the best to you
Tash

Used to live in the Inner West and always felt safe there. But must admit I have travelled to and lived in some very dangerous places in the world and have never had a problem. I am a pretty aware sort of person. Always happy to lend a hand. I can't believe those people in the cafe did nothing and didn't even call the police. Amazing. Probably better to call police than to run after bank robbers though I reckon. They may be violent to protect themselves. Call 000 next time hey. Stay safe.

Where we live in the North/West of Sydney is actually quite safe. I would hate to live in the inner city area. When I walk the dog late of a night here I always feel safe and people say hello to each other.

Recently while on holidays my Son rang and said the Police had just been to our house. He had got home very late one evening from work and a neighbour rang the Police thinking he was a burglar breaking in. Now that is a great neighbour!

WOW!!!!!! Ozrick, that is some reality check you had.

Hi Rick, There are bits about Sydney I love and bits about Sydney I really hate. I live in the Mountains and even with the cold we get up here, its my haven. I went to a Kids birthday party at Nurragingy Reserve and felt a bit edgy driving through those areas of Western Sydney. I kept telling myself that decent people DO live here however and it is safe to be here!

I look at your story this way. While the events are really awful, the young rider is lucky that you and your wife were there to help him and make contact with the police and ambulance immediately and to stop him getting hurt further. The young woman was lucky that your son and daughter in law were there to intervene from her being more severely bashed or worse and that her attackers were able to be caught. I don't mean to sound kooky, but I do believe that there are reasons for some things to happen.....although it would be nice if it wasn't for people being bashed or hit by cars or any violent events. I can't understand why people will hurt another human being. But there are wonderful people such as yourself who may come along and help them in a moment of dire need....

I dont blame her... when you order a double quarter pounder with no onions and pickles and you get a burger with onions, pickles and no cheese... it aint pretty!

Oh my. Listening to the news. A 17 year old was caught waving a gun at a McDonalds drive through. Also had 7 knifes in the car. See, Junk food is dangerous!

Thats why we left the city ( well central coast NSW) when the kids were little. It was starting to get scary with home invasions....thankfully, even though there is crime here where we are ( there is everywhere) its only small stuff and I still feel safe here.

Cherry I am getting a bit paranoid. There have been so many instances like this. I think it comes from living in a big city like Sydney and also spending a lot of time on the road here.

Some years ago I walked into a shopping centre at Wentworthville and I noticed the screens were up in the St. George bank and people were laying on the floor. I realised there was a robbery happening. As the guys left I chased them but unfortunately I was fat and slow and they were skinny and fast. The thing that made me sooooooo angry was there were people sitting at a cafe next to the bank, with a full view of what was happening who were just sitting there.

The look on a little girls face as she was laying on the floor was awful, sheer terror. These coffee drinkers didn't even ring the police. Amazing.

Yep. So true. My God, your night sounds like something out of a American police drama! Hope that's the last time you experience anything like that.

yes Rick sometimes we pass through this life on auto pilot not looking around us till it smacks us fair in the face.

The world is indeed a dark and murkey place

It is so easy to get consumed by the whole new lifestyle thing and juggling meds and food. Then something happens to give you a reality check that really the whole weight loss thing is a small issue compared to some. I often say you never known what a day will bring.

Driving home from church tonight a
motorbike was next to us at right turn red light. The light for
straight ahead went green and he took off straight in front of a car
doing 60 kph. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. I screamed "No" and for a moment I thought the bike was going to just get past the car and ride off with the fright of his life but unfortunately it didn't work out like that.

Last night while trying to sleep I kept seeing the horrible sight of watching the car hit the bike and the guy flying 20 metres through the air. I Immediately rang 000. An unmarked Police car was there in
30 seconds. He said he was on his way to another job. We moved our car through the red light to block other cars running the poor rider over, again. He wasn't moving but thankfully I heard him groaning so I knew he was alive.

Ten minutes later and ambulance got there and then my Mother-in-law drove past and stopped. She saw our car and the flashing lights and got out in a panic. The last time she saw flashing lights on an ambulance was when her husband died 5 weeks ago. She told us my daughter and son-in-law were with police down the road.

That job the unmarked Police car was going to was a attack on a girl. My daughter and her husband stopped to intervene with a guy who was bashing the girl. They were
threatened with a baseball bat before the offender took off.

So they were with the police quite awhile. Then my son came home and said he was at the traffic lights in Blacktown after having dinner when two men jumped out of the car in front, ran to the next car and dragged two men out of that car. He was going to intervene when they shouted they were police. They then arrested the two guys who has been bashing the girl.

What a night. The motorbike rider, who was only 17 is expected to survive but he is mashed up quite badly. Made my aches and pains seem very trivial and very small.