My OperaKids today....
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:26:26 PM
There was a school shooting today around the corner and two blocks north of my office building.
Apparently some of my coworkers were watching the hubbub from their office windows.
It just seems so surreal.
For some reason, it reminds me of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame Parade we watched from the conference rooms in our old building on East 9th Street. It was a cold drizzly day, for some reason that always seems to be the weather whenever there is a parade in Cleveland, and we were all warm and cozy in our conference room looking down on the parade as it went by.
Well today is a cold and drizzly day and my co-workers were warm and cozy looking down as a tragedy happened by.
Ever since I heard about it, which was about 20 – 30 minutes ago, I have been inundated with people pontificating about the incident. Here are a few of the snippets I have heard today.
One innocent enough comment about the “good ole days”:
“Back when I was a kid, which wasn’t that long ago, the bad kid at school was the one who stole the date stamp from the librarian.”
One wry attempt at humor:
“What is it going to do to my commute?”
One bizarre attempt at “why didn’t they prevent that”:
“I heard that he always wore black and liked to wear hoods, why didn’t somebody talk to him about that.” (Apparently this is always a clue that someone is going to go on a shooting rampage. Did you know this? I didn’t. Apparently all Goths are really homicidal maniacs in really poor disguises. Just like all only A-rabs are terrorists, which must be good news for the IRA and people like Timothy McVeigh.)
Three grim soulless bastards, not surprisingly from a person with a lesbian sister who is anti-gay marriage:
“I’m glad he’s dead.”
“He deserved to die.”
“I have no sympathy for anyone who does that.”
I know the shooter was a young man of about 15.
I know he hurt, but did not kill, 5 people; 3 students and 2 teachers.
I have been told he committed suicide.
The Dali Lama says that if you want to make other people happy, show compassion and if you want to make yourself happy, show compassion.
I am not surprised that school shootings happen and I am not particularly shocked when they do. People live painful lives and the pain surfaces in horrific ways.
Because ultimately it’s all about me, I am now going to be subjected to the usual vapid discussions about how its his parents fault, or the school’s fault, or why didn’t somebody notice that he liked to wear black. He obviously played too many violent video games / watched too much TV / Drank the Kool-aid. If only he had gone to church more....
What is it about modern America that makes people think the only option available to them is an outburst of horrific violence followed by suicide?
Is this really a post WWII phenomenon?
Apparently some of my coworkers were watching the hubbub from their office windows.
It just seems so surreal.
For some reason, it reminds me of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame Parade we watched from the conference rooms in our old building on East 9th Street. It was a cold drizzly day, for some reason that always seems to be the weather whenever there is a parade in Cleveland, and we were all warm and cozy in our conference room looking down on the parade as it went by.
Well today is a cold and drizzly day and my co-workers were warm and cozy looking down as a tragedy happened by.
Ever since I heard about it, which was about 20 – 30 minutes ago, I have been inundated with people pontificating about the incident. Here are a few of the snippets I have heard today.
One innocent enough comment about the “good ole days”:
“Back when I was a kid, which wasn’t that long ago, the bad kid at school was the one who stole the date stamp from the librarian.”
One wry attempt at humor:
“What is it going to do to my commute?”
One bizarre attempt at “why didn’t they prevent that”:
“I heard that he always wore black and liked to wear hoods, why didn’t somebody talk to him about that.” (Apparently this is always a clue that someone is going to go on a shooting rampage. Did you know this? I didn’t. Apparently all Goths are really homicidal maniacs in really poor disguises. Just like all only A-rabs are terrorists, which must be good news for the IRA and people like Timothy McVeigh.)
Three grim soulless bastards, not surprisingly from a person with a lesbian sister who is anti-gay marriage:
“I’m glad he’s dead.”
“He deserved to die.”
“I have no sympathy for anyone who does that.”
I know the shooter was a young man of about 15.
I know he hurt, but did not kill, 5 people; 3 students and 2 teachers.
I have been told he committed suicide.
The Dali Lama says that if you want to make other people happy, show compassion and if you want to make yourself happy, show compassion.
I am not surprised that school shootings happen and I am not particularly shocked when they do. People live painful lives and the pain surfaces in horrific ways.
Because ultimately it’s all about me, I am now going to be subjected to the usual vapid discussions about how its his parents fault, or the school’s fault, or why didn’t somebody notice that he liked to wear black. He obviously played too many violent video games / watched too much TV / Drank the Kool-aid. If only he had gone to church more....
What is it about modern America that makes people think the only option available to them is an outburst of horrific violence followed by suicide?
Is this really a post WWII phenomenon?
Sarah angel292005 # Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:54:03 AM
Too bad this kid didn't get the mental help that he needed. I am sure there were numerous warnings!
Shelshula # Thursday, October 11, 2007 2:13:22 PM
He was suspended because he got into a fight with a kid who was constantly picking on him. He was upset about the suspension because apparently nothing happened to the kid who started it. He shot two specific students and two specific teachers before committing suicide. A third student hurt herself falling down the stairs trying to escape the school.
The school had was a magnet school with a very good reputation. At least one of the teachers he shot was reputed to be an excellent active teacher who took a deep interest in his students welfare and success.
I can't imagine what it must have felt like for that boy to feel so isolated and forlorn.
Sayeedsayeedsalim # Monday, October 15, 2007 3:49:09 PM
I suppose some of the people who really need help are the ones who oppose stricter gun control rules to atleast try and reduce the instances of this happening.
Shelshula # Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:06:01 PM
The answer to "where did he get the gun" is the same as in all of these instances; he stole it.
The guns in the Columbine Shooting were stolen from the Grandfather's house. They broke into his house and broke open the gun safe and stole them.
It's odd, but this morning they were interviewing one of the teachers who had been shot on the local NPR station this morning. He said that he had never seen a 14 year old with eyes so filled with hate and anger before. He also went on to say that he had seen eyes like that on older people before. You know, "People who had reasons to be angry."
I think a large part of the problem is people dismissing this kids emotions. His pain was real, but ignored. It was that teacher's job to recognize the signs and help him. Even after actually being shot by this kid, the teacher is dismissing the child's pain as not real because he was "only" 14.
It reminds me of Columbine. I don't remember where I saw this, if it was part of "Bowling for Columbine" or some other show about it. But the narrator was interviewing some Jock who had survived the attack. When asked about the accusations of merciless teasing and degradation at the hands of fellow students the shooters claimed to have endured, the jock categorically denied the charge. He then added the charming caveat "Well they were fagots."
Sayeedsayeedsalim # Wednesday, October 17, 2007 4:17:41 AM
From what you say though it sounds like everyone else is walking around in full on denial mode. Pity.
Shelshula # Saturday, October 20, 2007 3:54:17 AM
I don't know, maybe it is arrogant of me to declare all these people in full on denial mode. It is so much easier to sit outside a situation and see things that people inside can't see.
I do think it is foolish for the teacher to assume that just because the shooter is young that he has no reason to be angry or enraged. There is so much pain in the world. It seems ridiculous to think that age has anything to do with how much pain a person has experienced.