I always thought that the most important factor to consider when choosing a job is the pay rate and job requirements. I have quit one job for a lack of hours and returned to another, my current, to retain them. However, money and ease of work are not the only factors. Recently, I discovered an even greater one: safety.

Sometime between 5 p.m. on Mar. 22 and 1 a.m. on Mar. 23, my vehicle was vandalized. After getting off work, I discovered that both side mirrors were forcibly removed from it, presumably in a deliberate act of violence.

However, I do not know whether it was simply a random act or a targeted one. Furthermore, were it targeted, I’m unaware whether it was an act towards myself personally or my type of car.

Regardless, I wasn’t at ease. The time I spent in front of the computers desperately attempting to locate the crime on the cameras was unnerving. Waiting for the police to show up so I could file a report was even more so. This car, my Hyundai Sonata, is my property. The location was my work place. If a vandal could get me there, they could get me anywhere. I no longer felt safe.

That night, I wasn’t the only one affected. A few friends of mine were shot with paintball guns by a passing car. Another had his house shot by the same people. I heard a rumor that a television was stolen from the Woods complex. People were speaking of gunshots echoing. And I, myself, witnessed small children throwing rocks at each other across cars in drive through.

Were they the ones behind the vandalism? Or was it something else?

Right now, I don’t really care to find out. All I want is to feel safe—to feel like I can walk to work on a beautiful day and not fear for my livelihood. I want to take a walk at night without watching for suspicious activity. But more than anything, I want to feel like I can go into work without worrying about another robbery, shooting or act of vandalism.

Right now, it’s time to find a new job.