Tragedy

Saturday, December 15, 2012

I'm taking a break from the retro posts today to say a few words about the horrific news yesterday, which I'm sure has been weighing heavily on everyone's mind. The incident made me think back to when I was in kindergarten myself. I was five years old. I knew what death was, having experienced the death of my grandfather and a beloved cat by that age, but I'm not sure I knew the concept of murder yet. Had something like that happened when I was in kindergarten, I doubt that any of us could have comprehended what was going on. My heart, thoughts and prayers go out not only to the victims, but everyone who was affected by this inconceivable tragedy. It boggles my mind to think that 27 families are not going to have much of a Christmas or holiday celebration. 

For whatever reason, today's world is not the same one as the one I grew up in. I remember the turning point was when Adam Walsh was abducted and found dead in the early 80s--suddenly, as a kid, I didn't feel quite so safe being outside on my own anymore, knowing that there were monsters who wanted to harm children. But now things have gotten so far off the deep edge and out of control, I don't know what the threshold is anymore. That isn't to say, of course, that people weren't hurting and killing each other back in my parents' and grandparents' times. No, the world wasn't perfect. We had wars, discrimination, and corrupt politicians. But mass shootings? Unheard of. 

It's this nostalgia for different and often, better times that keeps this blog going. As I was telling a coworker at my company's holiday party last night, it makes me feel good when people tell me my posts bring back nice memories.  

I'm grateful for all of my readers who visit and enjoy this site--and I wish you all the best for the holiday season, with loved ones who are safe and close at hand. May you all have plenty to be grateful for and may we figure out some ways to make the world a safer place starting in 2013. 

Someone posted this song on Facebook yesterday; it seemed highly appropriate.

6 comments:

  1. We had a shooting incident in a Baltimore school earlier this year. Nothing like what happened yesterday but a special needs child was shot; thankfully the boy survived but he was badly injured. He did not know the kid who shot him.

    I personally think the more violent video games have at least some impact on what's happening with these mass shootings that have occurred over the last 10 years or so. When you can turn on your PC and vicariously kill 50 people it's going to have some effect on a person who's not stable to begin with. Obviously that isn't the entire explanation for what's happening but I do think it's part of the problem.

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  2. A nice piece Pam, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the tragic events yesterday. And yes we sure do live in different times; I have an 8 year old niece who's all too aware of the various dangers out there, gosh when I was her age in the early 70s... it did seem a much safer world then, for kids at least.

    Thanks as always for the great retro-posts Pam, hope you have a Merry Christmas. :)

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  3. Such a heartfelt and thoughtful post Pam. This tragedy is front and center in Canada too. As Doug said above, it's so hard to wrap one's head around it. And it's gotten worse since they've started showing photographs of the all the lovely children who lost their lives. Really hits home.

    Your retro posts are always fun and certainly do bring lots of sweet memories back. Thanks for that. Hugs.

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  4. JZ -- I absolutely agree. The UK press is reporting that the shooter played Call of Duty endlessly in the windowless basement of his house, according to a plumber who gave The Telegraph an interview. It horrifies me that these video games are allowed to be made in the first place. Give me Donkey Kong and Burgertime anyday.

    Doug -- I feel for your niece; such an unpredictable and scary world we live in. Merry Christmas to you as well!

    Chelly -- Thank you...I can imagine that the rest of the globe is looking at the U.S. right now and wondering what the hell our problem is. I viewed photos of the children and adults who were killed yesterday, along with descriptions of what each person was all about and it was indeed very sad.

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  5. Pam, it almost never fails with these mass shootings that the perpetrator was a video game addict, I'm not at all surprised that this guy was too. Something needs to be done, I don't think you can ban them but you probably could restrict kids access to violent video games and sell them to adults only.

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  6. JZ -- That is what the British Telegraph reported; not sure if it's true but they claimed to have interviewed a plumber who did work at the Lanza home. At any rate, I don't think filling your senses with excessive violent stimulation is good for anyone. The Supreme court shot down a proposed ban on violent video games last year. Even if only adults were allowed to buy them, they could still give them to a kid. Not sure what the solution is and it's only one possible contributor to the problem.

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