Doing Nothing Won't Solve Anything

Columbine, Jonesboro, Blacksburg, Tucson, Aurora, Oak Creek, Clackamas, Newtown. We can no longer call these “isolated incidents.” This, unfortunately, has become a way of life. A way that must be changed now, before it happens again. For me, what makes it worse are all the people who think everyone should be armed. Are you insane? More guns equal more murders. People say if the ‘good guys’ have guns, they’ll stop the ‘bad guys.’ When I was in college, I had a summer job at a restaurant. My co-workers’ brother would come in every so often for free food (don’t tell the boss!) We were all around the same age and became friends. He was in a bar one night when a robber came in. The “good guy”, an off-duty cop, pulled out his gun and started firing. My friend was caught in the crossfire. He wasn’t killed, but that 19-year old who loved to go out dancing, was paralyzed from the waist down. The robber only wanted money. If that “good guy” didn’t have a gun, my friend would probably still be dancing today. When our founding fathers wrote the 2nd Amendment, the world was a vastly different place. Those men could no more imagine school shootings or automatic weapons than they could imagine cell phones or computers. Laws must evolve as life evolves. What worked 200 years ago, doesn’t work today. Automatic weapons, semi-automatic weapons, extended clips---none of those things had been invented when the 2nd Amendment was written. The only purpose of automatic weapons is to kill people, and to kill a lot of them in a short amount of time. There is no place in a civilized society for these types of weapons. They must be banned. Guns should be harder to obtain, and the laws need to be more uniform from state to state. If you want a gun for a legitimate purpose, if your hobby is target shooting or hunting, you should be OK with better regulation—because you don’t want the “bad guys” to ruin your right to own a firearm. I wanted to volunteer at a FanFest event when the MLB All-Star game came to Southern California a few years ago. I had to submit to a background check—just to volunteer my time. Buying a gun should be harder than volunteering for community service. I know people say there will always be criminals and crazies and bad guys. Sure, there will be, but doing nothing doesn’t solve anything. We have to try. We take off our shoes and put our shampoo in a plastic baggie in order to board a plane. Is that a perfect solution? No, it’s not—but we did something. We tried. We can be better. We must change our reality in the memory of 20 first graders, 6 teachers, 12 moviegoers, 6 constituents, 2 Christmas shoppers, 6 Sikhs and 32 college students. For all of us.

Grateful for others

Lately, especially over the past year, we've all seen the psycho-babble about finding something to be grateful for each day. I usually think "Gee, isn't that nice?" with a sneer on my face. I'm more the type who wallows in self-pity. I'm smart enough to know that I'm better off than literally billions of others on this planet in terms of health, finances, housing, food, hell--just about everything. I know that, but sometimes it's hard to remember, like these last 72 hours. I had a productive day planned on Saturday. I managed to get only the first thing done when my car just turned off WHILE I WAS DRIVING!!! I could have been killed! Fortunately, gratefully, I was near the entrance to a parking lot and was able to push the car to a relatively safe spot with the help of 2 strangers who jumped out of their cars and ran over to help me. Got a tow to my mechanic and they ordered a part for replacement the next day. Because the car started at that point, they sent me on my way. Too afraid to drive the rest of the day, I stayed home and did laundry. Still terrified to drive back to my mechanic on Sunday, my friend Willie followed me to make sure I'd make it there, then dropped me off at my Brownsbackers bar so I could watch football. After the game, my friend Becky picked me up from the bar and took me to pick up my car. I'm grateful to have friends who took time out of their weekend to help me out. I was still apprehensive about driving the car, but I made it through the weekend. On the way to work Monday, the 'check engine' light came on, so I was back at my mechanic for the 3rd day in a row. They assumed the light came on because it was improperly reset during the repairs. I managed to get just one more errand done when the car stopped in the middle of traffic again. But now, I wasn't near a parking lot and I had on high heels. The car behind me pulled into the next lane and left, but fortunately, gratefully, the guy behind him pulled over to help push my car. Then a girl in another car put her emergency flashers on, jumped out of her car, and helped him push while I steered to a safe side street. I called my mechanic, and after a little while my car started, so I drove back there, shaking the whole way. The manager, who I've known forever, figured out the problem. He hadn't been there on Sunday, and he made a nasty phone call to the guy who was there and made the mistake. And they are paying for the rental car I now have while they fix my car tomorrow. For me, it always seems to be a bad situation that makes me grateful for others, because none of us can get through this life alone. I'm grateful for the goodness and kindness in others--friends and strangers who go out of their way for someone else. That's what it's all about.