I remember having a discussion with a group of people in which the topic had to do with how things had changed so much in our lifetimes.

Of course technology was a large part of that discussion but we got off on a tangent in which we were talking about the complexity of life from when we were younger until today.  In that conversation I claimed that among the things I found most disturbing was that we no longer get shocked by anything, no matter how horrific.

Think about it, especially if you have lived in the shore area for all or most of your life.  I can clearly remember going to sleep at night without locking our front or back doors because you felt there was no reason to.  My father never locked his car in the driveway and often would leave the key in the ignition.

Of course times have changed and I would imagine just about all of us lock everything now.

Back in the day it seemed most crimes were rather petty but every once in a while there would be something serious that would simply stun us.  A murder at that time of any kind would be the “talk of the town” for days and even weeks because things like that didn’t happen here.

However as time went on serious crimes became more commonplace and unfortunately we realized they happen here like everywhere else.  Yes they would still be the lead story in the news but they would disappear rather quickly to be replaced by more bad news.  Bottom line is we had become conditioned to stories of death and destruction.

I say this as we learned yesterday that a Monmouth County man has been charged with killing his brother, sister-in-law, 11-year old niece and 8-year old nephew over what appears to be a financial dispute between the brothers who were business partners.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor has called this the most horrific crime he has seen in his tenure and I’m sure many of us feel that if New Jersey still had the death penalty this would be a time to use it.

More than anything this story proves we can still be shocked.  In some ways maybe that’s a good thing.

More From Beach Radio