Morning in America

 

 

Another mass shooting today—it must be morning in America.

I don’t know which is worse: the feeling of helplessness that overwhelms me when these things happen, or the fact that they happen so often.

This one hit especially close to home for me. San Bernardino, where 14 people died for going about their daily business and 17 more were injured, is where my daughter works. Thankfully, she was never in danger. The shooting occurred at a county agency and she teaches at the university several blocks away.

Still, I was anxious—at first because I didn’t know exactly where the shooting had taken place. It took almost 15 minutes to find out. And because my daughter has friends who teach on that campus, too, people I know and like.  I worried for their safety as they traveled home later in the day.

Then I found out that my daughter was traveling through the city to another campus. I hoped that she wouldn’t be affected by the manhunt that was underway for the perpetrators.

Now I wonder how she and her colleagues will handle this tragedy when they gather with their students tomorrow.  I feel deep sympathy for the people who tonight are mourning loved ones or keeping a bed-side vigil for an injured friend or family member.

Both my daughter and her closest friend posted on Face Book that they were safe and had not been in immediate danger. Then they both admitted to being exhausted from the stress of dealing with the events of that day.

The fallout from this incident will play out for many days ahead.

Those of us who were not directly involved will forget and move on. Those who were in San Bernardino at the time will have to process what happened and attempt to make sense of it.

I wonder if we are safe—anywhere. Shouldn’t people be safe at work, at school, in movie theaters, in restaurants?

We all know we aren’t.

Instead, we try to compensate for our lack of safety. We’ve armed our police with combat gear. We’ve taught teachers how to properly lock-down their classrooms. Children understand the terms “active shooter” and “mass shooting.”

And the only solution many politicians and other well-woman-511849__180 Pixabaymeaning people can offer is “thoughts and prayers.”

 

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

About Kathy

I grew up in Buffalo,New York the second eldest child in a family that eventually included eight children. The neighborhood was an Irish-American enclave. These two facts explain a great deal about me. I spent many years as a teacher who really thought of herself as a writer.

5 Responses to Morning in America

  1. Jeanne L Gagnon says:

    What a stressfull time for you and your family. I’m sure you thanked the Good Lord many times when you found out your daughter was safe.
    Prayers…

  2. A powerfully affecting blog post, Kathy. I’m thankful your daughter wasn’t in harm’s way, but, like you, I’m not willing to have our country just carry on, business as usual, as this happens over and over and over again. It will just be a matter of time before the gun violence strikes us or someone we love.

    • Ginger Allain says:

      This is so wrong and the proliferation of guns is a major factor. I’m sick of debating with people online about the merits of restricting guns. It works in other countries and it used to work here before every yahoo stocked up.

  3. So glad your daughter is safe.
    Yes, we all need to be vigilant and alert to head off terror attacks and violence.
    Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could reach out to the peace caring Muslims
    to work together for solutions.
    I have a pen pal in Japan since 1984 and a Peace Links Pen Pal in Russia since 1991. It is a beautiful thing to share cultural experiences across the world.
    There are good people in every nation. We need to work for PEACE.
    Blessings,
    Bobbi

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