Fear of the Drive By

For starters I have never crossed anybody in the wrong circle that I know of but for some reason I have always feared drive-by-shootings. The fear first came about when I was living in Alabama probably. I was sitting on my couch in the living room which was even with the big glass window that led out to the patio of my apartment. I heard some loud noises outside and started wondering if there was some shenanigans going on. Then I started to think what if there was some fighting and someone pulled out a gun and started shooting. An errant bullet could easily come flying through my window and I would be the broad side of the barn chillin on my couch. Boom ... donezo.

I am never afraid of someone coming after me but when living in an apartment or housing complex with minimal distance between you and your neighbor you never know. The neighbor could be involved in trafficking drugs or is in deep with a bookie and owes a lot of money. He/she may have slept with someones spouse or committed a crime that would end in a police standoff. It is my extreme lack of faith in the character of the general population that has driven my concern for such things.

Part of this all may stem from watching movies where this happens. The car full of gang members creeps up on a place from around the corner and opens fire, peppering the walls of a rival gang's house with rapid fire bullets. Most likely holding the gun sideways they are either out to send a message, defend their turf or get revenge. At least that is what is the usual for movies.

My answer has been to be out of harms way. When I lived in my first floor apartments all these years I would place my couch somewhere so it wasn't directly in front of the window. Either that or I would lay on the floor to watch TV, being underneath the window sill level and away from the glass. In my Durham Townhouse I felt much safer because the street was almost like a full room away from the areas where I spent all my time as the dining room and kitchen were behind the garage, the living room on the backside of the house and the guest bedroom facing the street instead of my room. Because I rarely have guests, I was never concerned for their safety with the guest room. Now I live on the second floor and would be more worried about an idiot living below me setting a fire and being unable to escape then I would be a drive by.

I wonder if the best thing to do would be to decorate my house year long with Christmas lights and decorations. I have never seen a movie where someone's house was shot up in a drive by during the holidays. If someone knows of this happening let me know so I can withdraw this idea from my bank of thoughts.