What will it take to shock me again? After the Virginia Tech massacre, I find myself wondering why I do not feel as affected as others by this undeniable tragedy. As I have grown up and entered into the wonderful world of adulthood, I have had the chance to look back on my life—as short as it may seem. And in doing so, I see the usual ice-cream-after-the-baseball-game experience, but also quite a few memories of a much different sort.
I have memories of horror such as Columbine or 9/11 stored away in my childhood. [And] countless murders or drug deals gone terribly wrong, reported by the nightly news team. All of this has somehow numbed my emotions. As bad it may sound, it did not shock or surprise me when hearing about the VT shootings. I will not deny that it saddened me to see such an act of violence directed from one human being to another, but it did not shock.
I believe every good person has a dream, an aspiration, for a perfect world. But with so many bad or just plainly lost people here with us, we tend to harden ourselves to [such an] extreme that we can no longer fight to prevent the horror and the tragedy. A few people may disagree that there is a problem, but even here in Asheville people live in suffering every day. So my question is: What will it take? What will shock us into uniting against such hate crimes? Maybe it won’t be an immense act of hate that will finally help me regain my senses; maybe it will be something much larger—an act of love or compassion. Whatever it may be, I wish to see it soon, and hopefully in the latter form.
— Jeana Jell
Asheville
Perhaps since the only life you know (the one you self-actualize with) you don’t see the beauty in others misfortune. (E.g. being grateful for how good you have it) 911, VT, Oklahoma City, and dating back to Pearl Harbor, that’s our excuse for taking our brain-candy. America is messed up? Human Psychology is messed up. American’s couldn’t understand true tragedy. We don’t understand what it’s like to be the victim of two nuclear strikes. We can’t image our ancestor’s being victim’s of mass genocide in the millions. How about of living in a country without free speech and democracy where your entire life you will never be anyone. I for one thank God for every insignificant day I get, in this monotonous world I’m so blessed to live in. You should to.