I was in community college the day after the Las Vegas massacre when the active shooter warning/alarm went off, and it was not a drill. Our very full Intro to Psych class had 3 solid walls, so the only way out other than the doors we couldn't lock were windows we couldn't open, facing the same direction. The two guys who were just-outta-…
I was in community college the day after the Las Vegas massacre when the active shooter warning/alarm went off, and it was not a drill. Our very full Intro to Psych class had 3 solid walls, so the only way out other than the doors we couldn't lock were windows we couldn't open, facing the same direction. The two guys who were just-outta-military offered up their services, and by that I mean they rigged their belts up on the industrial door closer with might-as-well-try energy, and then moved to put two of the oh-so-not-heavy-duty tables up against the doors for good measure. The professor had her phone out to get the police report, while everyone else took theirs out to send the obligatory "If anything happens, I love you" texts. News from the report: the guy seen stalking campus with a rifle was specifically seen stalking the area next to the soccer field. OMG you guys, that's a few hundred feet from us! Great. A SWAT team was being sent in. I wish I could say the energy in the room was one of rising adrenaline and agitation, but except for that one girl who was going full horror-movie hysterical, the energy could best be summed up as... bummed. "I guess it's us today. That sucks. I had some things I was really looking forward to."
Anyway, turns out some idiot had decided it would be a great idea to bring a Nerf foam-dart gun to campus - specifically, a Nerf gun they had painted to look more real - the day after the Las Vegas massacre, and a jumpy janitor saw and called it in. Once the truth was discovered, we were given the rest of the day off. The announcement was a formality though: Tthe students had already made that grimly silent collective decision for themselves. The look on that poor bus driver's face when dozens upon dozens of uncharacteristically unsmiling people were all waiting to board at once...
You don't forget the feeling of being a sitting duck. But the feeling, although sharper, did not entirely have the shock of the new. Growing up in 21st century America, you are always a little bit of a sitting duck.
You know what I am also thinking of while I'm typing this? The stove in my family's kitchen. It's one of those electric ones with the flat glass top. I appreciate what it does for us in a Marie Kondo way, but I can't imagine becoming super attached to it, or any stove. But apparently some people have VERY strong preferences, because the actual frigging President had to come out and assure everyone last week that the government was not going to be too picky about the safety rules around stoves, and that the gas ones aren't going anywhere, despite the fact that we now have found out that they are directly causing thousands upon thousands of kids to contract asthma.
My Mom has severe asthma. It causes her daily pain and discomfort, has dwindled what she can feel comfortable doing in her middle age, and now thanks to Covid, has become a source of frankly justified existential fear. I would give anything to rid her of it. But there are people in this country who would rather tens of thousands of children live their lives with that same constant lack of breath than be forced - FORCED I TELL YOU!!! - to use a different type of stove to warm their leftovers. Their stove preference is more important.
These folks are so righteous in the prioritization of their own sense of persecution, that anything and everything that they are used to has become a symbol of their "way of life," and any commonsense improvement to any of it, no matter how necessary the change or how immaterial the difference to their daily life, is somewhere from an imposition that will not stand to a full-on declaration of (cultural) war. My uncle has lost both his legs to diabetes, but these same folks would rather millions of kids have diabetes in their lives, if it means unhealthy foods they like the taste of stay on the shelves. They would rather keep spewing a torrent of fuel into the air until no children born today have any clean air in their lives, if it means the car they like the sound of stays on the market. And they would rather have innocent fellow citizens needlessly have their lives ripped from them in a randomized burst of violence each and every day if it means they can keep amassing the metal contraptions that give their uber-libertarian wild-west fantasies some more heft.
They'll be outraged no matter what, so let us give them something to REALLY be outraged about: November '24. A half-dozen congressional seats (looking at you, NY&CA), one more anti-filibuster senator (looking at you, AZ), the re-election of a still-spry fighting Irishman to the presidency, and soon after the strict federal gun control laws we need. Then we can live in TRUE freedom: freedom from this fear that affects the citizens of no other developed country, yet here has plagued a generation.
Eyes on the prize, and in the meantime stay angry. And stay safe.
Thanks, Margaret. I'm not good at taking compliments, so y'all are giving me a challenge! I am glad I have decided to contribute more often when I really have something to add. I tend to use up a lot of words each time, so I am all right stepping back the rest of the time and listening and learning from others. Cheers!
Here's wishing your Mom the best Will. I never had asthma but my little sister did. One never knew when she would be hit by an attack and stop breathing well. It was scary all the time.
Thanks, Mike. It is bewildering to me how people do not take asthma seriously enough, considering how common is is. People think you get, what, a little bit short of breath and can use your inhaler thingy, right? Uh, hello, that's to make sure she does not DIE, and she's already used it. Now what? She can tell if a person in the same row as her in the movie theater has a cat at home, so no, just kinda brushing yourself off is not going to cut it. And when we say she can't have tomatoes, we don't mean just take them off the salad before you bring it out. We mean don't have the veggie of death in the same damn building as the rest of the salad, unless you're willing to cough up the hospital bill while she's coughing in the hospital, mmkay thanks.
And... I don't like to say such things... Given my nice, polite English upbringing, I don't like to upset good, friendly people who are hurt enough already...
BUT... when I see news of the latest random American Amok, the latest haphazard obscenity, the latest... now "traditional" Human Sacrifice...
I WANT TO H O W L
This time, I'll spare you the full range of my thoughts -- which do not spare the pathetic mess English people have made of the United Kingdom -- but it is enraging, it is horrible, it is humiliating, to grow old amidst such degenerate barbarism and to see a country I criticized yet still respected, cared for, expected great things from... so tied up in knots of its own making that there is neither the will nor the way to do anything about anything...
Congress taken hostage by jailbirds-in-waiting who would be plain jailbirds in any respectable country -- or headless in Saudi -- a cult of death by bullets banned by the Geneva Conventions, idiot demons armed to the teeth in every corner of the land and dreaming of killing the neighbors, the worship of meaningless abstractions, adoration of Mammon and vile sidekick your New Improved MACHINEGUN MOLOCH...
Supine, supine, supine, yet daring to damn wretched Russians for failing to rise up against Putin, when any of that crime boss's subjects can be swept up at any moment for not looking obedient enough or, more likely, for no reason at all... and dumped in a vile hell-on-earth jail or sent to the front to get killed... for nothing...
Still free, still free... yet behaving like...
There...
I've gone and said too much... yet still expressed so little...
And you good people, grinding your teeth in frustration... and ruminating revenge like Hamlet... will be glad to see this Fool fall silent.
Beautiful writing, Peter, and I agree with every word.
Here in the US, we are still free. Most of us know that it's a slow and uncertain process, but politics is the best way to change society for the better. But we're stuck in a culture we helped create - one of consumerism, prejudice, poisonous religion and economic inequality. And we could fix it, but we either like it too much or depend on the status quo for our identities.
Truth is, we make ourselves filthy even thinking about these evils and those who do them.
At least full political commitment means getting down under the vehicle and dirtying oneself greasing axles, jumping into a trench and freeing the blocked sewage outlet with one’s bare hands, acting, getting something done—nobler grime. All my howling could ever achieve might be to awaken some sleeping Paul Revere spurring him to ride.
But you’ll need a million and more Paul Reveres today. And where are they? Where are the likes of the men who followed Washington? Where are those who, in the Civil War, learned the hardest way of all that no external foe can match one’s own brethren?
Now the filth is everywhere:
False identities—we take ourselves for everything and anything save what we are: all human beings.
And even then, we don’t begin to know what that means.
False gods, tinsel gilding, promising gold; gold and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. But delivering guaranteed dissatisfaction to pauper and to billionaire—we all know why those who starve aren’t satisfied but why do you think that superbulimic billionaires want more and more and more? Poor superjunkies, paranoid scroogery’s not enough for them. And because, like the song, they “can’t get no satisfaction”, the poor buggers get as rancorous and resentful as the poor and downtrodden and try to take it out on others…
It’s all too much like the Fisherman’s Wife of the folk tale, who found dissatisfaction in everything until she wanted to be God… and ended up back in the ditch where she’d begun.
False religion with false values, false preachers who milk the “successful”—i.e. the materially well-to-do—in exchange for selling them the “word” that they’re God’s anointed (while the poor will go to hell)…
Shopping malls, temples selling “the Meaning of Life” while those who cannot buy look on hungrily like wandering ghosts.
And it goes on and on and on.
How do people call themselves Christians, call themselves Jews, call themselves Muslims, when all they can do with Gospel, with Torah, with Qur’an is cherry-pick pretexts for their next crime? If they can read at all. Read AND think… for themselves, thought not predigested.
You’d have thought that Isaiah 6:9-13 was plain enough.
Here endeth the Second Rant.
With apologies. Yes, I am sorry, for all these raging words do nothing to assuage the pain, nothing to wash away the shame. And I have seen proud Americans, men who made great contributions to their country and the world, reduced to shame.
Well Peter, your post mirrors my frustration. Human behavior and motivation has fascinated me so much so that it sent me back to school and come out as mental health therapist, my third career, at the age of 50. Excuse me for being simplistic, but basically the motivation for these mass shootings is a combination of mental illness, hate, and anger (or any fear-based emotion). Easily acquired firearms just make it happen. I was at a city council meeting here in Philadelphia and all of these gun owners were in a complete tizzy because they were only allowed to buy one gun a month! I am very intrigued to find out the motive of the shooter in CA. As far as I'm concerned, the only motive a 72-yr old Asian man would have to do this is being overcome with jealousy...let's see....
"Mental illness" is bullshit. It's vague and does nothing other than criminalize millions of people who are mentally ill. If you don't know just what "mental illness" mass shooters suffer from, just keep quiet. "God speaking to you in the divine language of coincidence" is also bullshit.
Aside from air pollution as a cause of asthma, there is also substantial evidence that young children in modern "advanced" countries are not exposed enough to the natural world. Such exposure in effect "primes" the immune system for its later appropriate performance; without the priming, it does not perform as well. This idea was originally promulgated as the "hygiene hypothesis" (Bach, N. Engl. J. Med., 347, 2002) and later elaborated as the "old friends hypothesis" (Rook et al, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health [2013] pp. 46–64), the old friends being the organisms and other products of nature with which people have evolved over the millennia. A brief summary is in Scudellari, PNAS | February 14, 2017 | vol. 114 | no. 7 | 1433–1436. As infectious diseases have declined over the past decades, autoimmune diseases (asthma, eczema, ...) have increased. This trend has not appeared in Africa, for example. Who knew?
Addendum to my previous post: A lot of autoimmune conditions and diseases, therefore, could be prevented by taking young children out into the natural world. Also, there is evidence that exposure of young children to peanuts will prevent peanut allergies (has to be done carefully, of course). These measures will not cure people who already have the conditions, and will not solve the problems of air pollution, gas stoves, and the rest. It's purely preventative and has to be done with very young children.
I think it's very true that many if us don't take asthma seriously enough. In my case, it is mostly out of ignorance of it's severity. I don't know anyone who suffers from it so thank you for educating me on the subject. I truly appreciate it and will be much more mindful from now on.
Will, there's no substitute for personal experience. One of my best childhood friends had asthma. I've never forgotten how he struggled. Best to your mom.
I've taken asthma seriously since, as a teenager, my beautiful neighbor, mother to a young child who I babysat, died from it. It was terrible. So, when my son was born with it, I understood immediately that it could kill him. No one should have to live with asthma if it can be prevented. I'm so sorry for that your mom has to do so.
Thank you, Susan, for your kind words, but my Mom HAD to live with it. A long life, much pain, maybe more damage done to her body by the cortisone that got her through attacks than by the illness itself.
I have also seen two people cured of it by unconventional methods, one, only just in time. But such approaches may still be hard to come by.
This is part of the high price we pay for what's usually called "progress"... which is fine, but never comes free... and always brings with it some corresponding regression.
Anyway, may your boy and all like him enjoy robust health!
And... the bad things, too, come with something good: awareness of what it means to suffer, feeling for the pain of others.
Many more poor people in inner cities develop asthma because that's where the industrial parks are. And those who live in the North East have a higher rate of asthma thanks to the midwest power plants sending their smoke east.
Having worked in a major medical center (though generally not involved with direct patient care) I can attest that one of the most fearful thing is the inability to breathe! Often people are sedated because this is so traumatic to them.
I am so sorry to hear that her condition is so severe.
I have to add - my daughter is VERY allergic to peanuts, peanut oil, peanut butter etc etc. When she was young it was thought to be asthma - and youre right - its treated by many as "no biggie". As is the peanut allergy still. Very scary - I really feel for your mom - there are so many people with a huge number of allergies - I think a lot has to do with all the preservatives - additives - plus the crap in our air, water & environment.
Oh boy my cousin has the peanut & nut allergies. Those are no joke. Big strong football player, but one half a peanut in that piece of candy and it's Christmas in the hospital.
I'm not sure diet has that much to do with it (although what do I know, diet along with sleep and exercise does seem to affect everything). Mom has always theorized that in her case it somehow stemmed from anorexia in her early adulthood, as her asthma developed late in her 20s and many of her allergies are the things she limited herself to eating during that period. We give our bodies too much or too little... best we learn to listen to them instead.
I read somewhere (!) that there is some thought that if babies are given some form of peanuts in very small amounts it might prevent the full-blown allergic reactions. This was a while ago - I never saw where it was successful. I think your mom could be just as correct as anyone else regarding allergies. I could be wrong, but I dont think theres a lot of research into them. Or maybe someone here has seen more information.
'Most people know about pollen, dust mites and mould as triggers of their child’s asthma symptoms. But recent findings suggest that cooking with gas stoves, or exposure to other gas appliances, may be associated with new asthma cases and asthma exacerbations. Scientists have found that around 12 per cent of childhood asthma in Australia can be attributed to the use of gas stoves for cooking.'
'Why is it a problem?'
This is a problem for several reasons. Firstly, cooking is a daily occurrence and cooking with gas is common in Australian homes. In fact, it is estimated that 38 per cent of Australian homes cook with a gas stove.2 Secondly, cooking is normally done indoors, where irritants from gas cooking can accumulate, especially in winter as we keep our doors and windows locked. And lastly, it’s an issue that has had little coverage beyond academic circles, so most people are still unaware of the risks that cooking with gas may pose.'
'How does gas combustion lead to asthma?'
'Cooking with gas releases chemicals such as nitrogen dioxide3 and formaldehyde, which can cause inflammation in the airways and may worsen asthma symptoms.'
'Measures to reduce exposure'
There are a variety of simple measures you can take to reduce the effect of gas cookers on your child’s asthma symptoms. These include:
Using a range hood when cooking, noting that high efficiency range hoods which are vented outside are better than those that simply recirculate air
Opening windows during and after cooking. This is especially true if your home doesn’t have a range hood
Opening windows on opposite sides of the kitchen can help remove pollutants more quickly.' (National Asthma Council, Australia)
References:
Knibbs, L. et al. Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia. 2018 (7): 299-302.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Energy use and conservation survey, 2011
To any who think gas stoves are best, my experience—I have cooked on an electric induction cooktop for the past ten years. I would never want anything else. Before that I had electric coil. Terrible compared to induction or to gas for speed of response.
Oh but Carol, with the coils you also get all the gunk that gets stuck under the coils! And how after a few years they all find ways to have themselves be at slightly different angles!
And the drip pans under the coils rust out in a couple of years, if things boil over now and then. But if you have a boil over with induction you can use a towel while still cooking. Or you could put the towel under the pan the first place. It will not catch fire, the induction works as usual.
I had not noticed the tilted coils, but now that you mention it. . . yes. And if the pan got too hot you could lift the pan off the coil and put it somewhere. . .instead of touching the control panel. Those were the days.
Then there are also those like my neighbor who does not have a a good sense of smell. Another neighbor happened to come over and smelled gas, so averted something that could have gone bad. And now the neighbor in question finally has an electric stove.
iI have not found evidence for your claim with reference to electric toasters, on the other hand, inhaling harmful smoke from burned food can inflame your lungs and airway, causing them to swell and block oxygen. This can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure.
Nol, I do not have hours to comb through this article in which very careless cooking cleanups took place and claims were not verified, such as, “The scariest thing in this house is probably the toaster,” Erin Katz, another student volunteer, said “I just had no idea that toasters emitted so many particles.”, The article did not indicate what type of toaster was used, the nature of the 'particles', methods of data collection or substantiation of claims. I believe that kitchens may often be 'danger zones'. In this case the source was weak in substantiating claims.
I'm a 73 y/ o retired psych RN. Over the years those of us in this field have laughed about the patients running the asylum. I never thought it would become truth! I know that my years are limited but worry about my children and grandchildren. I have a trans grandchild who just finished high school and is a National Merit Scholar with a $40,000 scholarship. MIT, Harvard and numerous other universities want her. I pray that her gifts will be allowed to blossom for the benefit of us all.
I am 79, approaching 80 in a couple months, and have no children, but I worry about all younger people especially those in my family. I do hope that your grandchild blooms, but I understand your concern. Such hatred all around us.
We witness acts of unkindness nearly every time we are out driving somewhere. This weekend we were on our way to the grocery store when an obviously homeless man walked against the light and traffic had to wait a minute or so while he crossed. But the the jerk next to us had to blow his horn to express his having to wait for a moment.
I maintain that the most revealing interaction a person can have is how they treat a homeless person. It seems to always lay bare so much about the other person involved. No one who is homeless is living a great life, period, it doesn't matter how they got there. Someone who responds with sadness to the man with the dirty cardboard is someone I can trust to be friends with. Someone who responds with contempt (or honks)? Not so much.
We had a few names for the person in the next car. I believe he was in a hurry and since it's a main thoroughfare, ended up at the next red light, not making a lot of headway. I not sure the man even knew he was walking against the light. But once he steps onto the street, he has the right of way. Same thoroughfare is(was?) closed further down at a huge intersection today because of an attempted car jacking. So everyone near there was stuck no matter how much of a hurry they were in. We also had 4 homeless people killed in their tents by someone who was speeding and ran over them a while back. He has just been sentenced.
Bless your grandchild for having the courage to live as her true self in a world where so many still don't understand, let alone managing to excel to such a degree simultaneously. That alone is a big clue she has the strength to do anything. So inspiring.
Thank you for this post, Will. Nothing like that personal experience. I live in the community where there was a mass high school shooting, and I know a number of people who were impacted directly by that incident, from a co-worker whose child was shot and survived to other co-workers who had to investigate the homicide scene where the shooter killed both his parents (the HS was in a city jurisdiction and the homicide was in the county jurisdiction). The only thing in that incident that kept the death toll to two (directly; I believe there have been suicides of survivors in later years) was that the shooter had a .22 rifle, and not a .223 semi-auto with large capacity magazines.)
Ally, there is something powerful about being there, first hand experiences as you describe. Perhaps the lack of empathy, imagination prevents people from understanding. The terror isn't always about being in the room at that moment. In 2011, at our local elementary school of 400 students, at around 10:00 a.m., the custodian shot and killed the Principal in his office while students were in class. Except for one student in his office who witnessed this cold blooded murder. Children were in lockdown in their classrooms until 4:00 p.m when parents were allowed on campus. The teachers are heroes. I wasn’t there as I retired the year before, but i was called and talked to teachers who were in their classrooms with the children. Keeping children safe and following the practiced lockdown procedures for hours. Sitting on the floor, in a circle, lights out, windows covered, no leaving room for any reason. Including to the bathroom. Practiced. Because every school and teacher must be prepared for disasters. I retired the year before but i too was traumatized. Students and teachers and staff had counseling for two years but many are still there as if it’s now. PTSD. Forever.
Thanks for sharing this story. I met with the teachers at the elementary school in the little town where I was the contract deputy the day after Sandy Hook doing a debriefing of sorts with them. I stayed pretty present at the school for about a month, at various times of day so that students, staff, and parents could see me as a normal part of the school day.
PTSD is in fact the “gift that keeps on giving. Thanks for what you did.
If these stories aren’t enough to change minds and gun laws, then we are all going down together in the same armed ship. Sandy Hook couldn’t change gun laws. What possible disaster will?
The things that teachers are expected to do that is well above their meagre pay grade is astounding. Everyone who teaches public elementary should be paid as much as a brain surgeon.
Don't get me started on the suspicion increasingly directed towards "what they're teaching" these last few years. Most people have neither the desire nor wherewithal to spend the day with their own kids, the least you could do is show a little support and respect to those who are educating and raising them all at once during their most formative years for most of the day. Geez.
Thank you, Will, teaching is one of the most critical and criticized professions. And Early education, the most important and underpaid. One reason is that there are so many women in early grades. Patience, empathy, compassion, knowledge of prenatal through college curriculum, learning styles , modalities, development, a specialized level of teaching that often is underpaid and sometimes staffed with teachers untrained for that specialty. I realized that many parents felt they knew as much as a trained teacher because they were once students. And then there’s the salary schedule. That’s for another day.
Ally, I remember that incident well. For some reason we were in Oregon City when we heard about it on the car radio. We were shocked. And the parents, who knew he had problems, had bought him the rifle. Thanks god he had only a .22 rifle. And yet now we have LE not wanting stricter gun laws.
Ally, Monday, we have another Mass Shooting in HALF MOON BAY CALIFORNIA on the San Mateo coast, 7 deceased at two (2) locations. No facts yet to offer situational context.
Thank you, Heather, for your photo and thank you Will for your words.
I have lived with asthma my whole life and it can be terrifying to others, and myself, during a full-blown 'attack', appropriately described. It is controlled now by an inhaler with a retail cost of $425 a month without insurance, however Medicare (that is under threat by the GQPs also) pays all but the deductible. Still it's way too expensive. Under insured or those without must suffer horribly. It breaks my heart to think of children suffering with asthma and the constant threat of guns. A shooter was stopped at my granddaughter's school... So much is broken in this fine country. I am angry too, but must just take exception at the use of any f-word beside our President. He is doing the best he can with the cards he has.
Oh I am an unabashed supporter of our President, make no mistake. My colorful consternation was over the idea someone with so many more important things to do - and someone doing them so well - even felt the need to take any time at all to think about this, such was the outsized outrage.
My very angry, frustrated thoughts put succinctly..in your words. Even at my very senior age, I can continue to do my part towards “2024”....and your words are like my marching orders!
And then there is something not as life threatening that has "popped" up lately. Wouldnt most of us agree that it might possibly be "time" to physically DO something about government documents & how they are handled? Because it sure seems obvious to me after the former administration's intentional screw-ups and now not just this administration, but apparently Congress (Biden's senatorial days) need to have SOME kind of firm regulations/LAWS as to how to handle these documents - classified or not. The lack of any simple kind of organization & follow-up amazes me.
There are so very many ways that our government is so lax - it boggles the mind. Thats how dumpty got away with so much with absolutely NO oversight or attempt to stop him. Thats how we have these supposed "congress people" who not only have no idea of how a government works (or in this case, doesnt) but are still allowed to do as they please. For instance, the metal detector removal? A "representative" who should not have even been allowed to run for the office? And yet - there he is and on committees!
Sorry Will, didnt mean to change the subject but there is so much to be said, right?
Thank you for posting. I am sorry that the you went through the feeling of being a sitting duck. I agree with everything you have said. Every time we have a shooting in Portland, which happens way too often, people wring their hands and say what can we do. Well, we can do something about the freaking guns for starters. And now we have people saying that no one will take their gas stoves out of their cold dead hands. And yes, any of us could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be part of some shooting. Well said, Will.
I garner from what personal information has been shared, that many (most?) of the readers here are in their senior years (age, not school year!) We don't have a lot of lifetime left, nor a lot of physical energy, but we do have more "free time" to volunteer and a lot of that can be done from our own homes.
I have a lot of faith in the younger generations, I feel terrible that it comes down to all of you and I am well aware of how difficult just surviving is for you all!
Thank you, Miselle. Rest assured anything is appreciated... all ages of people are equally valuable! Even just well wishes go a long way in this time when so many feel alone! I felt bad last fall about not feeling able to do more, but my Dad reminded me that even making a few days of phone calls still put me in the top few percent of people in terms of those who volunteer. I wish that wasn't true, but he knows I'm a numbers guy and that would make me feel better.
Of course! Let it be known my rambles are always free to share! We are living in the post-"Celebrity Nude Phone Leak" world, so if I am not comfortable with something I type or a photo I take being theoretically splayed on a public wall, I refrain.
I was in community college the day after the Las Vegas massacre when the active shooter warning/alarm went off, and it was not a drill. Our very full Intro to Psych class had 3 solid walls, so the only way out other than the doors we couldn't lock were windows we couldn't open, facing the same direction. The two guys who were just-outta-military offered up their services, and by that I mean they rigged their belts up on the industrial door closer with might-as-well-try energy, and then moved to put two of the oh-so-not-heavy-duty tables up against the doors for good measure. The professor had her phone out to get the police report, while everyone else took theirs out to send the obligatory "If anything happens, I love you" texts. News from the report: the guy seen stalking campus with a rifle was specifically seen stalking the area next to the soccer field. OMG you guys, that's a few hundred feet from us! Great. A SWAT team was being sent in. I wish I could say the energy in the room was one of rising adrenaline and agitation, but except for that one girl who was going full horror-movie hysterical, the energy could best be summed up as... bummed. "I guess it's us today. That sucks. I had some things I was really looking forward to."
Anyway, turns out some idiot had decided it would be a great idea to bring a Nerf foam-dart gun to campus - specifically, a Nerf gun they had painted to look more real - the day after the Las Vegas massacre, and a jumpy janitor saw and called it in. Once the truth was discovered, we were given the rest of the day off. The announcement was a formality though: Tthe students had already made that grimly silent collective decision for themselves. The look on that poor bus driver's face when dozens upon dozens of uncharacteristically unsmiling people were all waiting to board at once...
You don't forget the feeling of being a sitting duck. But the feeling, although sharper, did not entirely have the shock of the new. Growing up in 21st century America, you are always a little bit of a sitting duck.
You know what I am also thinking of while I'm typing this? The stove in my family's kitchen. It's one of those electric ones with the flat glass top. I appreciate what it does for us in a Marie Kondo way, but I can't imagine becoming super attached to it, or any stove. But apparently some people have VERY strong preferences, because the actual frigging President had to come out and assure everyone last week that the government was not going to be too picky about the safety rules around stoves, and that the gas ones aren't going anywhere, despite the fact that we now have found out that they are directly causing thousands upon thousands of kids to contract asthma.
My Mom has severe asthma. It causes her daily pain and discomfort, has dwindled what she can feel comfortable doing in her middle age, and now thanks to Covid, has become a source of frankly justified existential fear. I would give anything to rid her of it. But there are people in this country who would rather tens of thousands of children live their lives with that same constant lack of breath than be forced - FORCED I TELL YOU!!! - to use a different type of stove to warm their leftovers. Their stove preference is more important.
These folks are so righteous in the prioritization of their own sense of persecution, that anything and everything that they are used to has become a symbol of their "way of life," and any commonsense improvement to any of it, no matter how necessary the change or how immaterial the difference to their daily life, is somewhere from an imposition that will not stand to a full-on declaration of (cultural) war. My uncle has lost both his legs to diabetes, but these same folks would rather millions of kids have diabetes in their lives, if it means unhealthy foods they like the taste of stay on the shelves. They would rather keep spewing a torrent of fuel into the air until no children born today have any clean air in their lives, if it means the car they like the sound of stays on the market. And they would rather have innocent fellow citizens needlessly have their lives ripped from them in a randomized burst of violence each and every day if it means they can keep amassing the metal contraptions that give their uber-libertarian wild-west fantasies some more heft.
They'll be outraged no matter what, so let us give them something to REALLY be outraged about: November '24. A half-dozen congressional seats (looking at you, NY&CA), one more anti-filibuster senator (looking at you, AZ), the re-election of a still-spry fighting Irishman to the presidency, and soon after the strict federal gun control laws we need. Then we can live in TRUE freedom: freedom from this fear that affects the citizens of no other developed country, yet here has plagued a generation.
Eyes on the prize, and in the meantime stay angry. And stay safe.
Reading, reading again. Bittersweet. The truth to the sadness, although your final words give such hope.
So profound. So touchingly, beautifully written words. May 2024 be the year of the wave, for the "still spry fighting Irishman" .
Thanks, Margaret. I'm not good at taking compliments, so y'all are giving me a challenge! I am glad I have decided to contribute more often when I really have something to add. I tend to use up a lot of words each time, so I am all right stepping back the rest of the time and listening and learning from others. Cheers!
Will, beautifully put.
Loud and clear, Will. Loud and clear.
Salud.
🗽
Here's wishing your Mom the best Will. I never had asthma but my little sister did. One never knew when she would be hit by an attack and stop breathing well. It was scary all the time.
Thanks, Mike. It is bewildering to me how people do not take asthma seriously enough, considering how common is is. People think you get, what, a little bit short of breath and can use your inhaler thingy, right? Uh, hello, that's to make sure she does not DIE, and she's already used it. Now what? She can tell if a person in the same row as her in the movie theater has a cat at home, so no, just kinda brushing yourself off is not going to cut it. And when we say she can't have tomatoes, we don't mean just take them off the salad before you bring it out. We mean don't have the veggie of death in the same damn building as the rest of the salad, unless you're willing to cough up the hospital bill while she's coughing in the hospital, mmkay thanks.
People. I swear.
Will, in my schooldays -- middle of the last century -- I met TWO kids with asthma.
Later, it was my own mother. After moving to a very big city.
Now... every other kid seems to suffer from it.
I HAVE SEEN THE PRESENT, AND IT DOESN'T WORK.
And... I don't like to say such things... Given my nice, polite English upbringing, I don't like to upset good, friendly people who are hurt enough already...
BUT... when I see news of the latest random American Amok, the latest haphazard obscenity, the latest... now "traditional" Human Sacrifice...
I WANT TO H O W L
This time, I'll spare you the full range of my thoughts -- which do not spare the pathetic mess English people have made of the United Kingdom -- but it is enraging, it is horrible, it is humiliating, to grow old amidst such degenerate barbarism and to see a country I criticized yet still respected, cared for, expected great things from... so tied up in knots of its own making that there is neither the will nor the way to do anything about anything...
Congress taken hostage by jailbirds-in-waiting who would be plain jailbirds in any respectable country -- or headless in Saudi -- a cult of death by bullets banned by the Geneva Conventions, idiot demons armed to the teeth in every corner of the land and dreaming of killing the neighbors, the worship of meaningless abstractions, adoration of Mammon and vile sidekick your New Improved MACHINEGUN MOLOCH...
Supine, supine, supine, yet daring to damn wretched Russians for failing to rise up against Putin, when any of that crime boss's subjects can be swept up at any moment for not looking obedient enough or, more likely, for no reason at all... and dumped in a vile hell-on-earth jail or sent to the front to get killed... for nothing...
Still free, still free... yet behaving like...
There...
I've gone and said too much... yet still expressed so little...
And you good people, grinding your teeth in frustration... and ruminating revenge like Hamlet... will be glad to see this Fool fall silent.
But Truth will out.
And...
The Truth will make you free.
If you still want to be free.
Beautiful writing, Peter, and I agree with every word.
Here in the US, we are still free. Most of us know that it's a slow and uncertain process, but politics is the best way to change society for the better. But we're stuck in a culture we helped create - one of consumerism, prejudice, poisonous religion and economic inequality. And we could fix it, but we either like it too much or depend on the status quo for our identities.
Horrible writing, Marycat, horrible.
Truth is, we make ourselves filthy even thinking about these evils and those who do them.
At least full political commitment means getting down under the vehicle and dirtying oneself greasing axles, jumping into a trench and freeing the blocked sewage outlet with one’s bare hands, acting, getting something done—nobler grime. All my howling could ever achieve might be to awaken some sleeping Paul Revere spurring him to ride.
But you’ll need a million and more Paul Reveres today. And where are they? Where are the likes of the men who followed Washington? Where are those who, in the Civil War, learned the hardest way of all that no external foe can match one’s own brethren?
Now the filth is everywhere:
False identities—we take ourselves for everything and anything save what we are: all human beings.
And even then, we don’t begin to know what that means.
False gods, tinsel gilding, promising gold; gold and the Big Rock Candy Mountain. But delivering guaranteed dissatisfaction to pauper and to billionaire—we all know why those who starve aren’t satisfied but why do you think that superbulimic billionaires want more and more and more? Poor superjunkies, paranoid scroogery’s not enough for them. And because, like the song, they “can’t get no satisfaction”, the poor buggers get as rancorous and resentful as the poor and downtrodden and try to take it out on others…
It’s all too much like the Fisherman’s Wife of the folk tale, who found dissatisfaction in everything until she wanted to be God… and ended up back in the ditch where she’d begun.
False religion with false values, false preachers who milk the “successful”—i.e. the materially well-to-do—in exchange for selling them the “word” that they’re God’s anointed (while the poor will go to hell)…
Shopping malls, temples selling “the Meaning of Life” while those who cannot buy look on hungrily like wandering ghosts.
And it goes on and on and on.
How do people call themselves Christians, call themselves Jews, call themselves Muslims, when all they can do with Gospel, with Torah, with Qur’an is cherry-pick pretexts for their next crime? If they can read at all. Read AND think… for themselves, thought not predigested.
You’d have thought that Isaiah 6:9-13 was plain enough.
Here endeth the Second Rant.
With apologies. Yes, I am sorry, for all these raging words do nothing to assuage the pain, nothing to wash away the shame. And I have seen proud Americans, men who made great contributions to their country and the world, reduced to shame.
Horrible.
Well Peter, your post mirrors my frustration. Human behavior and motivation has fascinated me so much so that it sent me back to school and come out as mental health therapist, my third career, at the age of 50. Excuse me for being simplistic, but basically the motivation for these mass shootings is a combination of mental illness, hate, and anger (or any fear-based emotion). Easily acquired firearms just make it happen. I was at a city council meeting here in Philadelphia and all of these gun owners were in a complete tizzy because they were only allowed to buy one gun a month! I am very intrigued to find out the motive of the shooter in CA. As far as I'm concerned, the only motive a 72-yr old Asian man would have to do this is being overcome with jealousy...let's see....
"Mental illness" is bullshit. It's vague and does nothing other than criminalize millions of people who are mentally ill. If you don't know just what "mental illness" mass shooters suffer from, just keep quiet. "God speaking to you in the divine language of coincidence" is also bullshit.
Aside from air pollution as a cause of asthma, there is also substantial evidence that young children in modern "advanced" countries are not exposed enough to the natural world. Such exposure in effect "primes" the immune system for its later appropriate performance; without the priming, it does not perform as well. This idea was originally promulgated as the "hygiene hypothesis" (Bach, N. Engl. J. Med., 347, 2002) and later elaborated as the "old friends hypothesis" (Rook et al, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health [2013] pp. 46–64), the old friends being the organisms and other products of nature with which people have evolved over the millennia. A brief summary is in Scudellari, PNAS | February 14, 2017 | vol. 114 | no. 7 | 1433–1436. As infectious diseases have declined over the past decades, autoimmune diseases (asthma, eczema, ...) have increased. This trend has not appeared in Africa, for example. Who knew?
Addendum to my previous post: A lot of autoimmune conditions and diseases, therefore, could be prevented by taking young children out into the natural world. Also, there is evidence that exposure of young children to peanuts will prevent peanut allergies (has to be done carefully, of course). These measures will not cure people who already have the conditions, and will not solve the problems of air pollution, gas stoves, and the rest. It's purely preventative and has to be done with very young children.
I think it's very true that many if us don't take asthma seriously enough. In my case, it is mostly out of ignorance of it's severity. I don't know anyone who suffers from it so thank you for educating me on the subject. I truly appreciate it and will be much more mindful from now on.
Will, there's no substitute for personal experience. One of my best childhood friends had asthma. I've never forgotten how he struggled. Best to your mom.
I've taken asthma seriously since, as a teenager, my beautiful neighbor, mother to a young child who I babysat, died from it. It was terrible. So, when my son was born with it, I understood immediately that it could kill him. No one should have to live with asthma if it can be prevented. I'm so sorry for that your mom has to do so.
Thank you, Susan, for your kind words, but my Mom HAD to live with it. A long life, much pain, maybe more damage done to her body by the cortisone that got her through attacks than by the illness itself.
I have also seen two people cured of it by unconventional methods, one, only just in time. But such approaches may still be hard to come by.
This is part of the high price we pay for what's usually called "progress"... which is fine, but never comes free... and always brings with it some corresponding regression.
Anyway, may your boy and all like him enjoy robust health!
And... the bad things, too, come with something good: awareness of what it means to suffer, feeling for the pain of others.
Many more poor people in inner cities develop asthma because that's where the industrial parks are. And those who live in the North East have a higher rate of asthma thanks to the midwest power plants sending their smoke east.
Having worked in a major medical center (though generally not involved with direct patient care) I can attest that one of the most fearful thing is the inability to breathe! Often people are sedated because this is so traumatic to them.
I am so sorry to hear that her condition is so severe.
I have to add - my daughter is VERY allergic to peanuts, peanut oil, peanut butter etc etc. When she was young it was thought to be asthma - and youre right - its treated by many as "no biggie". As is the peanut allergy still. Very scary - I really feel for your mom - there are so many people with a huge number of allergies - I think a lot has to do with all the preservatives - additives - plus the crap in our air, water & environment.
But thats another whole thing.
Oh boy my cousin has the peanut & nut allergies. Those are no joke. Big strong football player, but one half a peanut in that piece of candy and it's Christmas in the hospital.
I'm not sure diet has that much to do with it (although what do I know, diet along with sleep and exercise does seem to affect everything). Mom has always theorized that in her case it somehow stemmed from anorexia in her early adulthood, as her asthma developed late in her 20s and many of her allergies are the things she limited herself to eating during that period. We give our bodies too much or too little... best we learn to listen to them instead.
I read somewhere (!) that there is some thought that if babies are given some form of peanuts in very small amounts it might prevent the full-blown allergic reactions. This was a while ago - I never saw where it was successful. I think your mom could be just as correct as anyone else regarding allergies. I could be wrong, but I dont think theres a lot of research into them. Or maybe someone here has seen more information.
Oh, you are probably right. It would make sense... Like an inoculation of sorts.
Bodies: finding weird ways to defeat themselves since the dawn of time!
'FACTSHEET'
'Gas stoves and asthma in children'
indoor pollution healthy home triggers
'Most people know about pollen, dust mites and mould as triggers of their child’s asthma symptoms. But recent findings suggest that cooking with gas stoves, or exposure to other gas appliances, may be associated with new asthma cases and asthma exacerbations. Scientists have found that around 12 per cent of childhood asthma in Australia can be attributed to the use of gas stoves for cooking.'
'Why is it a problem?'
This is a problem for several reasons. Firstly, cooking is a daily occurrence and cooking with gas is common in Australian homes. In fact, it is estimated that 38 per cent of Australian homes cook with a gas stove.2 Secondly, cooking is normally done indoors, where irritants from gas cooking can accumulate, especially in winter as we keep our doors and windows locked. And lastly, it’s an issue that has had little coverage beyond academic circles, so most people are still unaware of the risks that cooking with gas may pose.'
'How does gas combustion lead to asthma?'
'Cooking with gas releases chemicals such as nitrogen dioxide3 and formaldehyde, which can cause inflammation in the airways and may worsen asthma symptoms.'
'Measures to reduce exposure'
There are a variety of simple measures you can take to reduce the effect of gas cookers on your child’s asthma symptoms. These include:
Using a range hood when cooking, noting that high efficiency range hoods which are vented outside are better than those that simply recirculate air
Opening windows during and after cooking. This is especially true if your home doesn’t have a range hood
Opening windows on opposite sides of the kitchen can help remove pollutants more quickly.' (National Asthma Council, Australia)
References:
Knibbs, L. et al. Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia. 2018 (7): 299-302.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Energy use and conservation survey, 2011
National Asthma Council, Australian Asthma Handbook-Managing avoidable triggers. Available at: http://www.asthmahandbook.org.au/clinical-issues/triggers/avoidable-triggers
To any who think gas stoves are best, my experience—I have cooked on an electric induction cooktop for the past ten years. I would never want anything else. Before that I had electric coil. Terrible compared to induction or to gas for speed of response.
I also have an induction stove and do just fine with it. I have never had a gas stove and am glad of that. Gas scares the heck out of me.
Oh but Carol, with the coils you also get all the gunk that gets stuck under the coils! And how after a few years they all find ways to have themselves be at slightly different angles!
Why would you ever wanna give that up?
And the drip pans under the coils rust out in a couple of years, if things boil over now and then. But if you have a boil over with induction you can use a towel while still cooking. Or you could put the towel under the pan the first place. It will not catch fire, the induction works as usual.
I had not noticed the tilted coils, but now that you mention it. . . yes. And if the pan got too hot you could lift the pan off the coil and put it somewhere. . .instead of touching the control panel. Those were the days.
Then there are also those like my neighbor who does not have a a good sense of smell. Another neighbor happened to come over and smelled gas, so averted something that could have gone bad. And now the neighbor in question finally has an electric stove.
The other culprit of indoor particles is the toaster believe it or not.
iI have not found evidence for your claim with reference to electric toasters, on the other hand, inhaling harmful smoke from burned food can inflame your lungs and airway, causing them to swell and block oxygen. This can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure.
See https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-hidden-air-pollution-in-our-homes
Nol, I do not have hours to comb through this article in which very careless cooking cleanups took place and claims were not verified, such as, “The scariest thing in this house is probably the toaster,” Erin Katz, another student volunteer, said “I just had no idea that toasters emitted so many particles.”, The article did not indicate what type of toaster was used, the nature of the 'particles', methods of data collection or substantiation of claims. I believe that kitchens may often be 'danger zones'. In this case the source was weak in substantiating claims.
So I shouldn't trust any of these sources? https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/the-dangers-of-indoor-air-pollution/
Here's another one.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200909-why-indoor-air-pollution-is-an-overlooked-problem
I heard a story on NPR about a study to measure indoor pollution, and the toaster came up as a culprit.
When forwarding a claim, it is best to check for evidence before passing on an unsubstantiated hazard.
I heard these people interviewed on NPR. Should I not trust them?
I'm a 73 y/ o retired psych RN. Over the years those of us in this field have laughed about the patients running the asylum. I never thought it would become truth! I know that my years are limited but worry about my children and grandchildren. I have a trans grandchild who just finished high school and is a National Merit Scholar with a $40,000 scholarship. MIT, Harvard and numerous other universities want her. I pray that her gifts will be allowed to blossom for the benefit of us all.
I am 79, approaching 80 in a couple months, and have no children, but I worry about all younger people especially those in my family. I do hope that your grandchild blooms, but I understand your concern. Such hatred all around us.
We witness acts of unkindness nearly every time we are out driving somewhere. This weekend we were on our way to the grocery store when an obviously homeless man walked against the light and traffic had to wait a minute or so while he crossed. But the the jerk next to us had to blow his horn to express his having to wait for a moment.
I maintain that the most revealing interaction a person can have is how they treat a homeless person. It seems to always lay bare so much about the other person involved. No one who is homeless is living a great life, period, it doesn't matter how they got there. Someone who responds with sadness to the man with the dirty cardboard is someone I can trust to be friends with. Someone who responds with contempt (or honks)? Not so much.
We had a few names for the person in the next car. I believe he was in a hurry and since it's a main thoroughfare, ended up at the next red light, not making a lot of headway. I not sure the man even knew he was walking against the light. But once he steps onto the street, he has the right of way. Same thoroughfare is(was?) closed further down at a huge intersection today because of an attempted car jacking. So everyone near there was stuck no matter how much of a hurry they were in. We also had 4 homeless people killed in their tents by someone who was speeding and ran over them a while back. He has just been sentenced.
Bless your grandchild for having the courage to live as her true self in a world where so many still don't understand, let alone managing to excel to such a degree simultaneously. That alone is a big clue she has the strength to do anything. So inspiring.
Will, please run for political office. Amazing reflection on the state of the country and beautifully written.
Wow, wish I had said all that; no, I wish the MSM had said all that, even better Rupert (I dream)
Thank you for this post, Will. Nothing like that personal experience. I live in the community where there was a mass high school shooting, and I know a number of people who were impacted directly by that incident, from a co-worker whose child was shot and survived to other co-workers who had to investigate the homicide scene where the shooter killed both his parents (the HS was in a city jurisdiction and the homicide was in the county jurisdiction). The only thing in that incident that kept the death toll to two (directly; I believe there have been suicides of survivors in later years) was that the shooter had a .22 rifle, and not a .223 semi-auto with large capacity magazines.)
Ally, there is something powerful about being there, first hand experiences as you describe. Perhaps the lack of empathy, imagination prevents people from understanding. The terror isn't always about being in the room at that moment. In 2011, at our local elementary school of 400 students, at around 10:00 a.m., the custodian shot and killed the Principal in his office while students were in class. Except for one student in his office who witnessed this cold blooded murder. Children were in lockdown in their classrooms until 4:00 p.m when parents were allowed on campus. The teachers are heroes. I wasn’t there as I retired the year before, but i was called and talked to teachers who were in their classrooms with the children. Keeping children safe and following the practiced lockdown procedures for hours. Sitting on the floor, in a circle, lights out, windows covered, no leaving room for any reason. Including to the bathroom. Practiced. Because every school and teacher must be prepared for disasters. I retired the year before but i too was traumatized. Students and teachers and staff had counseling for two years but many are still there as if it’s now. PTSD. Forever.
ofhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-school-shooting/janitor-shoots-california-school-principal-to-death-idUSTRE71195820110203
Thanks for sharing this story. I met with the teachers at the elementary school in the little town where I was the contract deputy the day after Sandy Hook doing a debriefing of sorts with them. I stayed pretty present at the school for about a month, at various times of day so that students, staff, and parents could see me as a normal part of the school day.
PTSD is in fact the “gift that keeps on giving. Thanks for what you did.
If these stories aren’t enough to change minds and gun laws, then we are all going down together in the same armed ship. Sandy Hook couldn’t change gun laws. What possible disaster will?
Thank you, Ally, for your good service.
I know some people who have PTSD long after they were in the military.....fireworks, for example, is not good for them.
And you never know when it is going to rear its ugly head...
My LMT was in the navy on an aircraft carrier and I have learned a lot about it from him. He does address it and is not in some kind of denial.
The things that teachers are expected to do that is well above their meagre pay grade is astounding. Everyone who teaches public elementary should be paid as much as a brain surgeon.
Don't get me started on the suspicion increasingly directed towards "what they're teaching" these last few years. Most people have neither the desire nor wherewithal to spend the day with their own kids, the least you could do is show a little support and respect to those who are educating and raising them all at once during their most formative years for most of the day. Geez.
Thank you, Will, teaching is one of the most critical and criticized professions. And Early education, the most important and underpaid. One reason is that there are so many women in early grades. Patience, empathy, compassion, knowledge of prenatal through college curriculum, learning styles , modalities, development, a specialized level of teaching that often is underpaid and sometimes staffed with teachers untrained for that specialty. I realized that many parents felt they knew as much as a trained teacher because they were once students. And then there’s the salary schedule. That’s for another day.
Ally, I remember that incident well. For some reason we were in Oregon City when we heard about it on the car radio. We were shocked. And the parents, who knew he had problems, had bought him the rifle. Thanks god he had only a .22 rifle. And yet now we have LE not wanting stricter gun laws.
Ally, Monday, we have another Mass Shooting in HALF MOON BAY CALIFORNIA on the San Mateo coast, 7 deceased at two (2) locations. No facts yet to offer situational context.
I was just there. Today is Monday. Now. Insanity. Here is the news report. 7 or more dead from tonight Monday. https://apple.news/APOWzNifmTeyVLBIWpMta4A
"...and survived."
Two of the best words in the English language. (Usually.)
Thank you, Heather, for your photo and thank you Will for your words.
I have lived with asthma my whole life and it can be terrifying to others, and myself, during a full-blown 'attack', appropriately described. It is controlled now by an inhaler with a retail cost of $425 a month without insurance, however Medicare (that is under threat by the GQPs also) pays all but the deductible. Still it's way too expensive. Under insured or those without must suffer horribly. It breaks my heart to think of children suffering with asthma and the constant threat of guns. A shooter was stopped at my granddaughter's school... So much is broken in this fine country. I am angry too, but must just take exception at the use of any f-word beside our President. He is doing the best he can with the cards he has.
Oh I am an unabashed supporter of our President, make no mistake. My colorful consternation was over the idea someone with so many more important things to do - and someone doing them so well - even felt the need to take any time at all to think about this, such was the outsized outrage.
Understood, great!
My very angry, frustrated thoughts put succinctly..in your words. Even at my very senior age, I can continue to do my part towards “2024”....and your words are like my marching orders!
Totally agree
I agree with all of the above.
And then there is something not as life threatening that has "popped" up lately. Wouldnt most of us agree that it might possibly be "time" to physically DO something about government documents & how they are handled? Because it sure seems obvious to me after the former administration's intentional screw-ups and now not just this administration, but apparently Congress (Biden's senatorial days) need to have SOME kind of firm regulations/LAWS as to how to handle these documents - classified or not. The lack of any simple kind of organization & follow-up amazes me.
There are so very many ways that our government is so lax - it boggles the mind. Thats how dumpty got away with so much with absolutely NO oversight or attempt to stop him. Thats how we have these supposed "congress people" who not only have no idea of how a government works (or in this case, doesnt) but are still allowed to do as they please. For instance, the metal detector removal? A "representative" who should not have even been allowed to run for the office? And yet - there he is and on committees!
Sorry Will, didnt mean to change the subject but there is so much to be said, right?
Thank you for posting. I am sorry that the you went through the feeling of being a sitting duck. I agree with everything you have said. Every time we have a shooting in Portland, which happens way too often, people wring their hands and say what can we do. Well, we can do something about the freaking guns for starters. And now we have people saying that no one will take their gas stoves out of their cold dead hands. And yes, any of us could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be part of some shooting. Well said, Will.
I garner from what personal information has been shared, that many (most?) of the readers here are in their senior years (age, not school year!) We don't have a lot of lifetime left, nor a lot of physical energy, but we do have more "free time" to volunteer and a lot of that can be done from our own homes.
I have a lot of faith in the younger generations, I feel terrible that it comes down to all of you and I am well aware of how difficult just surviving is for you all!
Keep posting, Will.
Thank you, Miselle. Rest assured anything is appreciated... all ages of people are equally valuable! Even just well wishes go a long way in this time when so many feel alone! I felt bad last fall about not feeling able to do more, but my Dad reminded me that even making a few days of phone calls still put me in the top few percent of people in terms of those who volunteer. I wish that wasn't true, but he knows I'm a numbers guy and that would make me feel better.
Will, do I have your permission to share this?
Of course! Let it be known my rambles are always free to share! We are living in the post-"Celebrity Nude Phone Leak" world, so if I am not comfortable with something I type or a photo I take being theoretically splayed on a public wall, I refrain.
Still, nice to be asked I guess lol.