I can’t shake the sadness today. It feels like the world has gone crazy.
There is a line George Clooney says toward the beginning of
the movie The Descendants. Something
about how just because they live in their Hawaiian paradise doesn’t make them
immune to tragedy. There is still
cancer, bad things still happen. That’s
how I feel about living in the Happiest City in America today. We are not immune here.
A week ago, my Trader Joe’s was robbed at gunpoint. This spineless asshole might as well have held
a gun to my best friend and demanded money.
I shop there every week. I actually
enjoy the process of procuring nourishment for my family there because it is
such a positive place. If I walk in
feeling a little tired or blue, I always walk out with a smile and a better
outlook on my day. Even if I've never met the cashier before, he or she is like a buddy. I feel safe there.
And some shithead came in with his shithead gun like such a
BIG MAN and made the world a much scarier and meaner place for the person he
robbed and the people who work there. To
date he is still at large. I feel
outrage. I feel helpless. I want to kick the crap out of the person who
did this and then punch him in the neck.
Is this my higher self talking?
Probably not, but it’s how I feel.
How dare he violate MY Trader Joe’s?
Then the punch to the gut yesterday that sent me to bed for the rest of the day. A little three-year-old girl drowned in the
Elks pool on Friday while there for a birthday party. Same pool the boys and I have frequented countless times with friends to cool off, socialize, play on the swingset,
etc. That pool was my entrée into San
Luis Obispo life and embracing culture when we first moved here three years
ago. Like a symbol of camaraderie and
childhood joy. And then some poor parent I have probably rubbed elbows with in the Trader Joe's frozen food aisle had to leave that
party without their baby. Their life will never be the same. A huge void has been created that can never be filled.
Meanwhile, throughout other parts of the country, people are
reeling from the aftershock of racially-motivated shootings and violence. What is going on? Why is it so hard for us to love each other? Why are people still fighting for the right
to be able to go out and kill other people?
Aren’t we past this yet?
Meanwhile, McLean has lost his two front teeth. Minecraft is being played at obsessive
levels. Blues games are going on down the street. Life is going on. But still my sadness for my fellow man remains.
