An elderly couple just going out for a walk here in Peoria were approached by a young man who asked to use their phone. They let the man in, and he hid in the couple’s bathroom. Soon, the police arrived. It turns out the man had just robbed the Subway restaurant in Northwoods Mall.

The elderly couple was obviously shaken by this turn of events, and the Journal Star’s account of the incident includes this quote from the couple and advice from the police:

“You can’t be nice anymore,” the [elderly] man said. “You don’t know what you’re getting into. If the police hadn’t come in, I don’t know what would have happened.”

[Police Lt. Jeff] Adams echoed that and asked people not to let strangers into their homes.

“You’ve got a guy who has just committed a robbery,” Adams said. “If the police hadn’t been around, this could have turned bad quick.”

Isn’t that sad? “Letting strangers into your home” is what used to be known as “showing hospitality.” Now, the police are essentially saying that Peoria is so unsafe that we are being asked not to practice hospitality.

But is not allowing strangers into our homes the solution . . . or the problem? Maybe we should have more strangers in our houses — like the strangers who live next door. Do we know our neighbors? Could it be that our isolation has made us less rather than more secure?

And what about that stranger that asks to use your phone? Maybe you could engage him in conversation and try to find out a little about why he’s calling and where he’s going. If he sounds suspicious, by all means, don’t let him in your house. But maybe you can offer to let him use your cordless phone or cell phone — outside. You can still show kindness while trying to minimize your risk.

I remember many years ago when I was just a teenager and my car broke down on War Memorial Drive one Sunday evening. I had to go up to a nearby house and ask to use the phone. I sure am thankful a kind lady let this stranger into her house to use her phone, or it would have been a long walk home! Sometimes the stranger who asks to use your phone really just needs to use the phone.