Praying for V-Tech
Yes, MBT has a heart. Today it goes out to the students, faculty, alumni and friends of V Tech. I am floored by what happened there yesterday. I'm trying not to pull a Rosie O'Donnell and fall into depression (like she says she did after 9-11) and start dissing people for no reason.
I believe that every man has his day. I fly the friendly skies fearlessly and walk through D.C. at night thinking, "If it's my day, I'm going down no matter where I am." My attitude is that you can be laying in bed wearing your pajamas at 10 p.m. and just die--if it's your day. But every now and then a massacre like this happens and turns my whole theory upside down. There's NO WAY 32 people on the same college campus had there day on the same day, is there? It was the same thing with 9-11. When there are survivors, what do we say? "It wasn't his day." Part of me says, I should amend my theory adding that there will be days when several people who are destined to die that day randomly come together. But that shit doesn't make sense.
I'm trying not to sit around and watch round-the-clock news about this massacre, so I don't have ALL of the details. But I have enough. I don't want to be sad.
Now, I understand that a lot of people are angry about the slow response of the campus officials. I wonder if they thought the first shooting was an isolated incident and they didn't want to alarm everyone. They're sending out emails, which move fast unless you send them to 20,000 people at the same time. I'm sure IT has this under control. They say that it's hard to lock this campus down and I'm sure it's even harder when you don't know who the shooter is.
I kinda of wondered how this will effect the incoming freshman class for this school. I don't think my parents would send me to V Tech even it's my top choice. I also wonder how many students will want to transfer out. But really none of that matters. Not right now.
I just think it's really sad that so many talented people lost their lives. One of my favorite MBT readers attends V Tech and we can't wait to hear from him.
posted by Atsui_Gal @ 7:50 AM
8 Comments:
It's appaling that anything like this should ever happen, especially on a school campus. There should just be some places in this world where you should feel safe and not live scared.
My ex-wife and my kids are now living in Blacksburg and it's a very close knit community that loves it's school and the students. It's a beautiful, very open campus that flows right into the downtown area and it's really a nice small community.
I'm with you, I don't want to watch all the "experts" talk and talk about what happened on every channel all night long. As tragic as it is, there will now be months of "should'a? would'a? could'a?" back and forth as folks look for answers, closure and acceptance. There is only one person to blame for all of this and he is now dead.
Sorry for rambling.
Absolutely, Steven I agree. Gun control laws is the real issue here, but unfortunately, we'll probably hear more blame placed on school officials than the law makers who allow weapons to be purchased by civilians with ease.
There will probably be lawsuits no matter how weak. It's hard to accept that your loved one is gone and for some reason it makes people feel better to make someone or some organization pay. Hmmm...
Yo...
Like I am not one to get floored by things usually...but I am speechless...this is like wow...32 fatalities...approx 15 injured...by one shooter...many of the victims having at least 3 gunshot wounds...w/2 semi-automatic handguns????
This is so unbelievable I am almost beginning to wonder could this dude have been a Terminator sent from the future to complete a mission or some shit?? Its weird a survivor described the whole incident as something from a Sci-Fi movie...
this is unreal...who can pull a trigger nearly 100 times in such a short span of time? Like these weren't automatics where he just squeezed shut his eyes and sprayed the room. Mad reloads and mad trigger pulls...unconscionable
Like this would be crazy to me if it happened at the University of Hawaii...but to happen 5 min up the road at the school that I attend?? To see buildings I frequent often used as the backdrop...to even conceive of sitting in class on a random Monday daydreaming about a wonderful weekend I just had and not paying attention to shit the prof is saying and a random S.Korean walking in the room busting off shots...like...what?
Its crazy what some people are capable of. Like even after living in DC or where we are from, where hearing about a murder is damn near common...this just dwarves that.
I mean Bush is going to be speaking at my damn school lol...
And to think Columbine was always the benchmark for this type of thing, the most referred to etc...and that was 12 fatalities...this is damn near triple that
But honestly being here in Blacksburg...the shock and horror of the whole event is enough to last a lifetime...but the humbleness that accompanied that with how many people called/texted/contacted me via internet yesterday and today was crazy. In my own thoughts...I thought everyone would assume I was not anywhere nearby...And I am not sure I would have even thought to contact some of the people that hit me up...but the outpouring of care was almost too much to handle from an emotional standpoint. Im not talking just my parents and grandparents and close friends. Im talking my barber from home...a dude that is involved w/a close friend of mine...friends of other friends...cousins and acquaintances that I rarely talk to - And all were like genuinely concerned...My moms just told me my uncle took off work a half day b/c he was emotionally shook up b/c he thought I might have been there (ok that coulda just been him wanting to get off work lol) but that just made me stop and think...hot damn i am a fortunate dude...of course fortunate to be alive and breathing and not have lived through the incident but fortunate to have fam and friends that care b/c that def is not something everyone can say...
Yay! McVay speaks. I wonder who would have called me?
Yeah.. been thinking about this a lot. I mean, I dropped McVay off out there and less than 12 hours later over 30 people are murdered...
Man.. we've all heard it before but call your friends. Keep in contact with the people that are important to you. Don't assume you'll be able to holler at them later.
Champ its crazy aint it...
im sitting here after you drop me off wishing it would snow or flood or something so I wouldn't have to go to a 4pm meeting on Monday...id give anything to hav had to go now and these events not have happened...
And great point on hollering at who you can when you can...thats y we call u Champ lol
What's spokey is that Nikki Giovanni taught this kid and said he was mean and creeped the entire class out. Classmates said he wrote violent poems and plays, and took pictures of people with his cell phone.
So, I wonder why we can't do more to remove creepy, scary, violent people from unsecure environments? I'm not saying he shouldn't get an education, but...
Yea I feel you about the spookiness..But what is so hard...as I realized while working in student affairs when I was in DC, it is SOOO hard to do anything with a student unless he does something SUPER outlandish or unless you have someone willing to press charges.
All those incidents that he had...were with separate entities. Professors probably didn't share their fears with ANYONE. His roommates didn't share their fears. The cops didn't share information. If he went to the counseling center they def didn't share b/c of confidentiality etc etc. So all this stuff adds up in the aftermath, but as it is going on everyone is just looking at one piece of the pie which doesn't look as bad as the whole thing does ya know?
Its so crazy b/c I have had plenty of students come to me about a "weird" roommate. Ive seen plenty of students who could probably do this exact SAME thing. But at times what can you do when the student has broken no laws...no one is pressing charges...and you just have this one isolated incident and the student isn't interested in helping themselves...
Its unreal and unbelievable how many students at universities all across the country that are so close to the line that this dude crossed on Monday morning.
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