Raccoons in the City

A co-worker of mine lives out in the country, in a neighboring county that is widely characterized by it's meth labs and backwoods-inspired attire of a majority of it's citizens. And I can see why she prefers it: a lake, a golf course, gated community to keep out the riff raff, that type of thing. But there are serious drawbacks, of which any one of them would be deal-breakers for me. Such as:

• The Commute: She drives easily 50 miles in traffic each way, every week day, through three counties.
• The Crazies: The crazy of the not-quite-rural-not-quite-urban folk should not be underestimated. Her interaction is generally limited to retail and restaurant encounters, and a common beginning to any of her stories is something along the lines of "When I stopped for gas the other day, this extra-creepy guy in a big truck ____________ (fill in the blank with something civilized people only do behind tightly shut and locked doors with the windows covered over with newspaper). This one isn't so much a deal-breaker, but still.
• The Critters: She and her husband regularly do battle with raccoons. They're kinda mean and not in a cute way - once you've had one hiss at you, the cute little mask Ricky Raccoon image is quickly replaced with the definite knowledge that the little bugger would gladly eat your arm off without bothering to clean it.

All of these things are pretty evident when you spend any time in that neck of the woods - it's not like the traffic just got real bad in the last 16 months or the image of the county only recently became that of toothless, wife-beater-wearing types or that critters just suddently appeared one day with no warning. And it's her second house in this county too. So you'd think she'd be used to all of those things - or I expect her to be - it's not like she went into a house purchase not knowing the sacrifices (so to speak) you're making in order to get the benefits.

So why must I listen to her bitch about the traffic, the crazies, the stupid raccoons every single day? I am NOT exaggerating.

Ok, so it's a small cross to bear to humor her, I know this. But then yesterday, she told me what she did with the last raccoon she'd been moaning about. They had borrowed Surfer Boy's live trap and planned on relocating the little bastard that kept hissing at them and their cats. The trap worked like a dream and within a day of borrowing it, they thought all of their raccoon problems were solved with the quick clack of the trap door closing it in it's little portable jail.

And then her husband released the raccoon. And where did they deem the best option for the little guy? In the city. Am I the only one that sees a problem with this? Especially in light of the knowledge that less than a week after disposing of that raccoon, there's a new raccoon tormentor. WTF?