W.W.You Do?!

W.W.You Do?!

By Allen Merritt © 2018

Yesterday it happened again!

Another school shooting brought on by an individual with an arsenal of weaponry.

Interestingly, this event happened on Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. A day we celebrate to express love and appreciation for those special people in our lives; an event where we also recognize our mortality through reflection, penitence, self-control and abstinence, “You are made of dust and to dust you shall return.” Ash Wednesday is also recognized as a day of peace not just the first day of Lent in the Christian tradition.

Needless-to-say, this gunman was not at peace. It’s more than sad.

It is almost a common place event now, isn’t it? Yet nothing and no one seems interested enough to seriously combat the issue in any positive productive manner toward protecting and saving innocent lives from such experiences. It’s as if every person is expected to live as a moving target and are required to put up with it, shut up about it and be ready to accept any outcome should they be in the line of fire.

At some point during the reports, I remember thinking about the Valentine’s Day massacre of 1924, which was quite different in circumstances, but runs parallel as it happened on the same date. But the real issue I see rising out of these shootings is many of them (not all) are carried out by young people. And when you hear more of their history you become further aware of how hurt, pain and internal turmoil are prevalent. People need help. They need love. They need care. They need to be less bullied, less shamed and pointed in better directions. They need productive encouragement not access to guns. They need to be included in the story and not pushed away. Human fragility is never more evident than it is today.

It brings to mind the question of, “Have you ever been scared for your life?”

For me, the answer is affirmative. I HAVE been scared for my life. I have been robbed at gun point. I have traveled to areas of unrest alone and been put in precarious situations. I even remember a practical joke being played on me by colleagues using guns and screams (from another room in the house) to make it look as if we were under attack by one of these shooters. I have sat on an airplane next to someone behaving extremely suspicious and the doors were already closed. Yes, I have been scared for my life, more than once.

But here is what I am thinking today.

This young man was posting on social media and making intense comments before carrying out the attack. I understand one man reported these disconcerting social media posts. However, others simply overlooked the signals. Didn’t someone come up with the phrase, “See Something, Say Something?”

Does ignoring the situation make it go away or prevent the potentially lethal event from happening?

At the airport I hear occasional announcements that if we see unattended baggage to report it immediately. I have gone so far as to report things. I discovered my reports largely go by the wayside and are not attended to by those in charge. At a conference in Minnesota I noticed a large bag was placed in the middle of the conference room and no one sat next to it or claimed it. It just sat there for a long time like a ticking time bomb. I reported it to staff and they shrugged their shoulders as if to say, “Oh, well. What do you want me to do about it?”

Another conference I noticed a group of people behaving erratically and speaking another language. I felt something was out of place and made inquiry, because it is just this kind of a situation that can get out of hand.

What are we doing? Better yet, what are we not doing? Do I always have to be looking over my shoulders?

If we are witnessing danger in progress or hints leading up to it, shouldn’t we do something? None of us are so insignificant that we cannot address concerns in a rational non-judgmental way. For me, if my gut is telling me something and I feel apprehensive on ANY level, I know I have to try and at least find someone to talk about it with. All this brings me back to speaking up. You just never know what good can come out of it.

People are beginning to be called out on things more and more if they behave or say something inappropriate. Why not address these more serious issues and concerns also? 

It’s a matter of life and death.

Maybe I am babbling here. You decide.

In any case, I ask we all stop for a minute and think about what you would do?

W.W. You Do?

Think about it.

Please.

Everyone deserves a chance to live the extent of their life on a positive note.

Cheers!