As I think a good portion of Port Chester knows by now, I live on North Main Street and I recently put cameras up around my house. So far, I've been fairly public with what I've chosen to share from my recorded footage. It's all been done in with the hope that people will catch on to the fact that I want to see a better Port Chester. But it's also been fairly selfish in that I particularly want a better immediate neighborhood. I want to be surrounded by respectful people. Sure, I want the whole village to pick up the torch and make this a better place for all of us, but I can't completely say that none if this has selfish motives behind it seeing as how I live here too.
Last week though, I caught video of something a bit more personal. An accident. I watched a parked car get hit by a commercial vehicle. It was clear no one got hurt as no one was in the parked car and the driver of the commercial truck just walked away. So, rather than post this footage online, I waited. I waited until I saw the owner of the car that got struck. This car is parked near my house on a fairly regular basis and I've seen the owner many times. While I've never directly addressed the person, I felt somewhat like I knew who they are.
Tonight, I saw the car parked in front of my house. I went out and spoke with the owner. The person verified for me that the car was indeed in an accident the week before and that no note had been left. Upon learning this, I invited the person into my home and showed them the footage. Afterwards, I emailed a copy to them so they might use it to collect for the damages.
The reason I'm writing about this, is that I don't feel 100% sure I did the right thing. In my heart, I believe I did, but there's a loud voice in the back of my head that says I wasn't directly involved and I should just stay out of it. 30 years ago I don't think I've had had any concerns over this. Most likely as a by product of today's attitudes, I'm not convinced my actions were the best. In a world were you can be sued by trespassers or buglers if they trip and fall while on your property, values have certainly changes from how things were when I was a kid.
I'd like to take the temperature of my readers. Please take a moment to sound off in the comments whether or not you think I should have acted as I did or if I should just keep my nose out of other peoples affairs. I'm just trying to get a feel for how much current day values may have changed since when I was young and the world was a different place.
