Yesterday morning, I followed my normal ritual of pouring a cup of coffee and going to the driveway to fetch the morning paper. Usually, I turn straight to the crossword puzzle, ignoring the rest of the paper, but on this morning, I had a little bit of extra time. So, I decided this time to scan the front page to see if anything noteworthy has happened lately, like maybe the state has moved up from 50th to 49th in one of those national surveys they always seem to be doing.

What I saw on the front page were five stories. Three were about murders that had occurred, all in the local area. In another, I noticed that people were buying up ammunition faster than plywood during a hurricane warning. In the last story, it was reported that teenagers are having a hard time finding jobs in the current economic downturn. The reason for that, so said the story, is because adults are coming to the opinionthese days that delivering pizzas can be a rewarding career path.

Let’s see. Teens with too much time on their hands. Murders in the local community. People buying up ammo like they’re going to stop making it tomorrow. Does anyone besides me see a connection between these stories?

I could react to this in one of two ways. On the one hand, I could put up bars on all my windows and lock myself securely in my house. I wouldn’t even go out to buy groceries. I’d just order out for Domino’s Pizza all the time, hoping to high heaven that the delivery boy, or should I say “man”, is not a serial killer.

Or, I could just go back to my normal habit of going straight to the crossword puzzle in the mornings. After all, I don’t need to refer to the front page to solve it. Never is there a clue for 46-across that reads, “Latest person in Calcasieu Parish to be convicted of second-degree murder.”

Which way do you think I should go?

For those of you who were born after, say, 1970, the title of this article reflects a line from a song by a band called “The Beatles”. Have you heard of them?