shaken not stirred

Weeks of nothing much interesting happening and now all sorts of stuff again. Must be the weather. We're back to looking in fear at our kids again, afraid to go to classes and such. That's perfectly legitimate for once, for those few of us who suffered through it.

I hate to be a pain but I think we can expect a few copycat attempts over the next few weeks as schools wind down. These sorts of things happen in patterns because once the first event happens, it in a strange way legitimizes the behavior. It calls glorious attention to people who may otherwise feel left out or ignored, even if they're not in reality. While reading Tipping Point, there was a chapter on teenage suicide rates skyrocketing in Micronesia. They had what amounted to a trigger point from famous local celebrity and the ensuing death and so forth. Over the following weeks and months, the cycle perpetuated itself with scores of young men attempting to kill themselves, often with no warnings, or even any real interest in suicide. There were a great many who seemed to do it as though it was the latest fad. Let's see if I can suffocate or how many pills I can swallow. Not exactly roller blades.

The same types of behavior happened here with some famous deaths (Marilyn for example). And also with school shootings. They are in some ways an epidemic that spreads and flares up from time to time, needing only the refreshing jaunt down memory lane for some to stir up the whirlwind. So we can expect a few more of these, because this one is like a major workout compared to those jaunts. 32 dead, many others wounded. It's a lot to live up to. People will try. And we will look in fear at our teens and young adults, wondering how many they're trying to take with them.

I look at this a bit differently than most. I realize it's a terrible event. But I have to wonder what causes the snapping point where someone just decides to take out the gun and start trying to get a new paint job before they turn it around. I look at the people who do these things somewhat more sympathetically. I wasn't ever there myself, because I tend to let a lot roll off my back. But I can't say that schools were always good times either. I wouldn't go back to high school again. And there were a few people I wouldn't have hesitated to let suffer if they needed help. That's a cold realization. But it's one that connects in some way. The pressurized environment created by tension from classes and the tension from just trying to deal with growing up isn't exactly a healthy potion. It's actually more like poison. Expecting people to deal with it without some consequences is sort of like expecting people not to experiment with drugs or sex. Fights or assaults will break out. They don't have to.

If there's a way for people to take it easy once in a while. Relax. Go blow some heads off in a video game. Drive fast on a lonely street. Something. Put together a plan for world domination. Organize guerrilla movements based on taking out druglords and using their money for further conquest (that's mercantilism on the private scale).. but I digress. See it's not hard to get away from having any feeling or reaction to people who don't deserve one. Instead they're getting bullet barrages. If it were easier to explain how to chill out once in a while, and how to bleed off that tension without boiling over, we'd be a bit healthier. People would probably be more honest in feeling. None of this fake, how are you bullshit. Because we'd already know how someone is that day. It'd be written on their face. We'd have the human equalivalent of sharpie saying HAPPY, ask me why, or PISSED OFF, get the fuck out of my way. That's a happier environment because it's an honest one. Instead people are shallow and make motions of emotions. Using real emotions will get things done. Faking it is just hurting everyone. There are times when it doesn't do to be chipper and happy just as there are times when it won't do to be pissed off at the world. But unless people start expressing something realistic, they're just going to eat away at each other until someone snaps. That's where we are today. And the body counts are getting higher. Hopefully a few people learn from this.