New Battery, sad day

I am back on the information super highway thanks to quick ordering by my husband and the resulting new battery and power supply.  I still have all those wonderful, fun things to talk about, but my thoughts are not on them.  I just want to ramble for a moment about the news I have taken in today about the shooting in Colorado.

There is no sense to be made from a senseless act.  We are human, and therefore will try to make dots connect whether they do or not because we want most of all to understand things that scare us and feel like we have some amount of control.  I have already read commentaries that either place blame or defend any number of variables from last night's attack that will inevitably come under scrutiny.  I am not interested in placing blame on anything or anyone other than the individual that committed this act.  There will undoubtedly be circumstances uncovered about this person that will provide one label or another for his actions.  Regardless of those labels, I know that he ultimately is the only responsible party.  I am sad for his family, and beyond sad for those who were victimized by his actions- directly or indirectly.

I am also sad because this shooting has placed a dark cloud over a favorite pastime for so many in our country and around the world.  I know reasonably and calmly that this act could have taken place in any number of places, but the fact is it happened in a movie theater; a place where, more than most others, we choose to lower our barriers and lose ourselves in a story, collectively making ourselves vulnerable.  It is a wonderful form of escape and one that I have loved since I was a kid.  And while I am absolutely a supporter of not letting bad events or bad people take things from us because of fear, I can't help but feel some reservation returning to a theater in the near future.  I really don't think that the shooting last night was anything but the random act of a disturbed person, but sitting here 8 1/2 months pregnant, I can't help but imagine the unthinkable, and wonder if it is the most responsible thing to do on my part.

As I arranged my mat and prepared for my yoga class to begin this morning, I started thinking to myself about what I would do if someone violent came into the space I was in.  I visualized multiple scenarios and thought about what I would do.  I know that this sounds very paranoid and a little crazy, and I can't say that I don't agree.  The saddest part of this confession however is the fact that I have run through these kinds of scenarios in my head for years.  And I am not alone.  Since the shooting in Paducah in 1997, when I was a sophomore, and then again in 1999 when the Columbine shootings took place, I have had these scenarios run through my head, and even had group conversations with my friends about what we would do should something like that happen.  Every couple of years another horrible event takes place that causes these imaginings to re-emerge.  Of course, the imaginings run from blatant survival to heroic acts.  It is a sad reality of the kids of my generation and those generations following that we have good reason to think about these things.  When I was in college I became friends with a guy who I later found out had been hurt in the Paducah shooting, and whenever something like this happens I think about him and wonder what his thoughts are.  He is an extremely intelligent and calm person, one I admire very much, and while I know he has the maturity and presence of mind to handle these horrible things (probably more than most) I hate to think of him hurting again because he really knows what it is like to be in that situation.

I am not sure I am making much sense, but I needed to vent a little of what I have been thinking about this today.  I am still really excited to see The Dark Knight Rises, as I have been a fan of the series and have my theories about how the film will bring the trilogy to a close.  I just need to think a little longer about when and how I am going to see the movie.  I feel so much for those who were attacked in that theater, and pray for them and their families.  I hope they can get the help they need and the support they deserve.