Many people have blogged, tweeted, and commented on Facebook about the horrific bomb explosion at the Boston Marathon and the subsequent days-long manhunt, which included gunfire exchange and additional deaths. Mercifully and thankfully the tragic saga now appears to be over, at least the scariest part.
Because there is so much information and misinformation out there, I won't bother to weigh in on the specifics. I don't think I can add anything new or insightful anyway. I do, however, want to respond to people who feel the word is a dangerous, sad place.
You are correct; there is really no denying that the world is hardly all sunshine and lollipops. And I think I can speak for the majority of people around my age by saying that "back in the day" we did not have to worry about someone shooting up many people in a school, a movie theater, or at some event, or setting off an IED and injuring scores of people at a sporting event. (Of course I grew up in a small town, so my worries were different and less, I am guessing, than the worries of those who grew up in a city.)
But you know what? I can look at this in a different (and what I like to think of as a more positive) way too. There are more than a few people in this world who are mentally ill, broken, unstable, or just plain evil. No denying that either. But when you think about how many people there are who are just not "right" (whatever that means), shouldn't we consider ourselves pretty lucky that things like this don't occur daily or weekly? Can't we take some solace in that the shootings that we hear on the news almost daily (at least here in the Burgh) are typically confined to a few people and don't regularly include a half dozen or more people? That is something, right?
Of course I will think about something like this happening again (I will be a little uneasy during the Pittsburgh Marathon and I won't even be anywhere near it); I tend to do that for some time after a tragedy like this occurs. But I just have to keep on living and, as the saying goes, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. So you can bet I will continue to keep my cell phone with me at all times. Because as a post from last year suggested, it is the next best thing to packing heat, I suppose. You just never know...
But I will end on a positive note with a quote I found on Facebook:
Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
Some pretty good words to live by.
Because there is so much information and misinformation out there, I won't bother to weigh in on the specifics. I don't think I can add anything new or insightful anyway. I do, however, want to respond to people who feel the word is a dangerous, sad place.
You are correct; there is really no denying that the world is hardly all sunshine and lollipops. And I think I can speak for the majority of people around my age by saying that "back in the day" we did not have to worry about someone shooting up many people in a school, a movie theater, or at some event, or setting off an IED and injuring scores of people at a sporting event. (Of course I grew up in a small town, so my worries were different and less, I am guessing, than the worries of those who grew up in a city.)
But you know what? I can look at this in a different (and what I like to think of as a more positive) way too. There are more than a few people in this world who are mentally ill, broken, unstable, or just plain evil. No denying that either. But when you think about how many people there are who are just not "right" (whatever that means), shouldn't we consider ourselves pretty lucky that things like this don't occur daily or weekly? Can't we take some solace in that the shootings that we hear on the news almost daily (at least here in the Burgh) are typically confined to a few people and don't regularly include a half dozen or more people? That is something, right?
Of course I will think about something like this happening again (I will be a little uneasy during the Pittsburgh Marathon and I won't even be anywhere near it); I tend to do that for some time after a tragedy like this occurs. But I just have to keep on living and, as the saying goes, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. So you can bet I will continue to keep my cell phone with me at all times. Because as a post from last year suggested, it is the next best thing to packing heat, I suppose. You just never know...
But I will end on a positive note with a quote I found on Facebook:
Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
Some pretty good words to live by.
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