Too close to home…

At the beginning of the year, there was a shooting at Lone Star Community College. When I saw those headlines and read the updates, I was thinking, "This is too close to home, I used to attend that community college…"

Earlier this year there was a stabbing at a different Lone Star Community College campus. When I saw those headlines and read the updates, I was thinking, "This is too close to home, I’ve driven by that campus a lot"

Just last month there was a stabbing at Spring High School. When I saw those headlines and read the updates, I was thining, "This is too close to home, that was my high school’s rival school. We shared the same football field…."

Now this morning there was a shooting in the parking lot of Tompkins High School. When I saw those headlines and read the updates, I was thinking, "This is too close to home…. it’s just a couple streets from my new house… my son will one day attend this high school (barring redistricting)… I drive by there every morning to work… I drove by there at the same time it happened this morning on my way to work…"

I don’t want to go on a long, profanity-laced rant on what this world is coming to. I just sit here and wonder in awe how this is the world I’m bringing my son into. This is the direction the world he will face is going, and I’m supposed to teach him the rights and the wrongs and principles and morals and hope it’ll register in his head to survive it. Not just the world in general, but even the specifics like surviving a day at school. At this school, this specific school that just opened its doors for the first time last month. It already has a death count in the parking lot…

Now granted, it was not a mass school shooting. It was a personal shooting, her estranged husband shot her. She was a 30-year-old cafeteria worker. It was around 6am so no student was even near the parking lot. And these two came from a bad neighborhood and she would commute to this nice neighborhood high school for work. Her domestic problem just followed her.

But the threat is always there, it’s always been there. And I’ve always known it to be there. It just doesn’t register until it’s that close. It didn’t even fully register at the beginning of the year, or later, or last month. How closer can it get? This is a nice neighborhood, how did it happen here? How did it follow me here? I’ve lived in downtown Houston, I’ve experienced lots of the urban jungle life. This suburban area was such a paradise in comparison.

Hopefully my wife will now change her stance on allowing me to be able to fully protect this family…

moral of the story: The human mind is a dangerous plaything, boys. When it’s used for evil, watch out! But when it’s used for good, things are much nicer

Have a Nice Day!