As an argument I had with a man I know began to become heated, he told me that a man concerned with his family should mind his own business. He told me that in order to live in relative peace amidst a flurry of questionable activities, I should leave others to their own devices. I had been embroiled in a controversy involving a rental house next to my own home. I had witnessed too many events that I had surmised not only constituted a threat to the safety of my family, but were just plain wrong. I became involved, the police were brought in and I also sided with the owner of the house in an effort settle the dust around a relatively calm neighborhood. I did it because I refuse to live in a world where we shut our doors to the wrongs others commit, ignoring them in hopes that they will all go away. I don't live in a bad neighborhood. I live amidst good people whose desires appear to be to live good lives. Yet I often wonder why we must all turn our backs on activities that are harmful and pose threats to the wellbeing of our loved ones, just so that we can assume we are safe from harm; you know, heads in the sand and all that. The idea that we must live in fear is wrong. Even more wrong is the idea that we should turn our backs on the woeful activities of others because it is 'none of my business.' I live in a town that fancies itself a comfortable alternative to the hustle and bustle of big cities, sheltered from the larger world by virtue of its quasi-rural location. Yet this is an illusion, and it is one that must be smashed. None of us, I would like to believe, are so apathetic to the wrongs around us that we desire the dark confines of a tortoise shell, yet most of us, I have observed, act contrary to that notion. Live and let live is a fine attitude, but can only go so far before we allow ourselves to be overrun by abhorrent behavior and injustices that we merely complain about at the dinner table or in the bars as we sip our favorite beverages, shaking our heads at the futility of it all. I don't desire to judge anyone, yet I cannot sit back and allow my world to be overrun by behavior that is the stark antithesis to what I hope to teach my children -- these things being common decency and basic responsibility to not only themselves, but their fellows. I have no argument with the differences we all possess. I am the first person to stand up for cultural diversity in any instance, regardless of race, creed, religion and so forth. But to remain silent when we are at odds with the world around us does no one any good. When I begin to be concerned for the safety of my children as they simply play in their front yard, with the door open under my supervision, then something has gone terribly wrong in my world. When I sit quietly and allow that wrong to go on, then I have done nothing to fulfill my promise to my children that I will be there for them, always. I will gladly leave others to their own devices. I will gladly live and let live. But when it begins to do harm, then I will speak up before it is too late. Robert Kelly-Goss writes for The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City, N.C. E-mail: rkelly-goss@coxnc.com. 