fett on 6/12/2007 at 13:35
Yadda Yadda. Horrible tragedy of course, but I'd like to skip over the usual comments of outrage, sadness, and horror, and focus for a moment on something else.
There are two or three shootings like this a year at schools and malls and such (it seems - maybe there's more). One inevitable facet of these stories is the person who I will call the Grown Up. The Grown Up is always interviewed mere moments after the killing, wearing a confused expression, and saying something like, "Well, he was depressed, was doing drugs and drinking a lot, his family disowned him, he lost his job and girlfriend, was a loner, brought a gun to breakfast table along with a suicide note this morning, then left for the mall/restaruant/highschool/daycare. I didn't think anything of it until I saw the news and thought 'Uh-oh. I hope it's not him'.
At this point, any self-respecting human being - the cameraman, the reporter, a bystander, should knock the living shit out of the Grown Up.
I'm not looking for someone to blame - these shootings are a failing of the individual and society. What I don't understand is how how how HOW after seeing these shooting on an almost regular basis can anyone with two brain cells not see it coming when they're sitting across the table from the would-be shooter every day? How fucking stupid is this woman the kid lived with? HE SHOWED HER THE GUN. HE LEFT A NOTE saying 'I'll be famous now' - hey you dumb bitch - do you think he might go do something rash? MAYBE? So instead of tracking the kid down or calling the police what does Mrs. Einstein do? She goes to work.
Let me repeat that: SHE GOES TO WORK.
I know this can become very subjective, but jI wish there were some type of charge that could be brought against her for failing to deter these murders. The same thing happened with a school shooting years ago in Jonesboro near where I live. Grandpa saw little Billy and friend taking stock of their arsenal, and practically saw them pull on the ski masks and thought nothing of it. Stupid Grown Up syndrome.
Here's a clue dumbasses: If the kid is depressed, sporting a flak jacket and an AK-47, and tells you he's off to the mall, SOMETHING MIGHT BE WRONG.
Jesus what a horrible thing, but it just bowls me over when the Grown Ups are surprised that junior shot up the school. "He left a note saying that everyone would pay, but we thought he was selling girl scout cookies." No one wants to believe little Billy could be a KILLER, but how many stories like this do you have to hear before you recognize unfolding in your own household. They're so cliche anymore that I barely bother to read the details - I could have told you what was going on with this kid before hearing the whole story.
I want to reach through the TV and strangle them.
BrokenArts on 6/12/2007 at 13:58
Agreed fett. I think people have become to the point of being desensitized. Ohh, he's not serious. They don't want to see it, or deal with it, or acknowledge what might be happening. Oh junior is going through a phase, it'll pass, and so will a lot of people. He and everyone else will pass on. I put a lot of the blame on lack of parental involvement these days. Not enough parents are involved in their kids lives, there should be come accountability, get involved people!! Ohhh burns my ass to the core, it does.
The way I look at some of the people today, lack of respect, lack of self worth, lack of doing the right thing. Watching out for #1, and not giving a damn about the rest. No cooth, rudeness abounds. They just don't care. I could go on and on. Sometimes, people today just plain suck.
Carini on 6/12/2007 at 14:59
I think they need to handle these stories like they handle streakers in televised football games. If a streaker runs out on the field the camera cuts away. No one sees it. No one knows who the guy is. I turned on the TV this morning and this story and the kids face was on every news channel I flipped to (thank God for Mike and Mike). Let's stop spending 3 days covering this shit when it happens. Sure it's a tragedy but I don't find it quite newsworthy and quite frankly I feel it fuels the fire of "I'm going to be famous". Just like those sick pictures NBC showed after the VT shootings.
failure2comply on 6/12/2007 at 15:11
I have a brother who once told me he was looking for a twenty-two so he could "pop some heads". Now he's resting all day long on an Ikea sofa in a mental institution. Sure dead people in a mall is terrible, but no more so than hundreds or thousands wasting away at the hands of a despot. Moral of the story? This shit happens all the time. Get used to it.
Thief13x on 6/12/2007 at 15:21
not trying to play the blamegame but I think alot of desensitation to this kinda shit comes from the introduction of emo music.
I think people really need to consider the difference between media and reality, but it's true that there are aLOT of people out there who claim to be depressed and have all sorts of desires to hurt themselves and everything else just to get attention. I'm talking about the kid who's girlfreind broke up with him after a month and claims that he cries at night and wants to kill himself because everyone hates him.
It's a tough call, moral of the story is to not take chances I guess... there are just alot of people out there simply trying to get attention, I know some personally and it's just plain annoying.
Fingernail on 6/12/2007 at 15:27
Yeah, it's music and films and TV.
Lazarus411 on 6/12/2007 at 15:42
There's another solution: make it illegal for civilians to own or carry guns.
Kuuso on 6/12/2007 at 15:43
Quote Posted by Thief13x
not trying to play the blamegame but I think alot of desensitation to this kinda shit comes from the introduction of...
To this point on, I thought you might have had some real input. I was so wrong.
Thief13x on 6/12/2007 at 15:50
Quote Posted by Kuuso
To this point on, I thought you might have had some real input. I was so wrong.
thanks i'll try to work on that
what AR said btw
catbarf on 6/12/2007 at 16:02
Quote Posted by Lazarus411
There's another solution: make it illegal for civilians to own or carry guns.
So then he stabs someone with a knife, or some bystander who would also be armed won't have his gun and more people will die. Rhetoric gets you nowhere, this has been debated dozens if not hundreds of times on this very forum.
Fett: Great post, I agree wholeheartedly. Modern society seems to try and reduce the role of the parent. Videogame ratings (think of Hot Coffee), hazard symbols all over tobacco products- people seem to think that the best way to help society is to completely eliminate parenting.
