Living in Unthinkable Times...

"Four planes? That many people willing to die for the same cause at the same time? If any writer had turned in a story like this, the publisher would have just handed it back and said, 'No way. Not believable.' " 

Post 9/11  quote from Tom Clancy (American military-science Novelist)

In modern history what occurred on September 11th, 2001 was beyond the vivid imagination of a bestselling novelist. On that day, 2,977 people (including dozens of Muslims) were vanquished on what should have been just another day of work. 

We who lived through it have images imprinted in our minds of the two jets T-boning the Twin Towers, the aftermath of the Pentagon hit and UA flight 93’s forced crash landing in a Somerset County, PA field.

That day was an American nightmare. 

9/11 changed the way Americans do business. We now are willing to remove our shoes, empty our pockets, subject ourselves to multiple ID checks, pat downs and full body scans to gain access to a cramped seat on an airplane. We forego our freedom of personal space and privacy to make it harder for the “Bad Guys” to board an airplane.

Yet, most Americans don’t give a lot of thought to the yearly statistics of a clear and present danger.  “In 2017, gun deaths reached their highest level since 1968 with 39,773 deaths by firearm, of which 23,854 were by suicide and 14,542 were homicides.” ( Source Wikipedia ). I suppose they reason, that stuff happens to other people, it won’t happen to me. 

Which leads me to a story concerning thinking the unthinkable.

It was almost a decade ago that I attended Tucson’s Jewish Film Festival.  It was a warm spring evening so I bicycled to the theater. After purchasing a ticket, I  scanned the crowd. Simply stated most of my fellow film fans looked Jewish. (There’s approximately 25,000 Jews in Tucson). However one young man stood out. He was tall, gawky and dark haired. He was dressed in full-on camo. He was carrying a mid-sized backpack. It too was camo colored. I’ll describe him in a simple way too. There was nothing about the Dude that was screaming out, “I was once a Bar Mitzvah Boy!” He was standing by the snack stand ordering a beer. 

Knowing there are people in the World who don’t like Jews, I was more than concerned on what was in his backpack. I angled through the crowd, coming in from his left side, I faked a stumble while thrusting my right shoulder into the pack. Fortunately the pack  squished. No thuds or clanks. Probably, no weapons. I looked him in the eye and apologized for my faux fall. 

I felt greatly relieved, so I bought an IPA. 

Many of you are now probably thinking, “Oh Jeff! You are so paranoid,” or “You need to forget you were once in Emergency Services.” 

Here’s my answer.  I’m going to remain vigilant. I’m going to avoid most crowds. I’ll continue to be aware of my surroundings. I’ll still watch who’s coming in through the front door. I’ll check people’s hips to see if they are carrying a sidearm. 

Think: 

A Sunday Church Service. Sutherland Springs, TX. 26 dead, 20 wounded. November 5th, 2017.

A Sabbath Synagogue Service. Pittsburgh, PA. 11 dead, 10 wounded. October 27, 2018.

A shopping spree at Walmart. El Paso, TX. 22 dead, 24 wounded. August 3, 2019. 

A night at the movies. Aurora, CO. 12 dead, 58 wounded by gunfire. July 20, 2012.

A day of college classes. Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA. 32 dead, 17 wounded. April 16, 2007

An evening of Country and Western music. Las Vegas, NV. 58 dead, 422 wounded. October 1, 2017.

Lastly, (there are many others) a day of learning the “Three R’s”. Newtown, CT. Sandy Hook Elementary School. 26 dead, 20 between the ages of 6-7. December 14, 2012.

After Newtown, I thought surly this would trigger a response for reasonable gun control legislation from our Nation’s politicians. I waited and waited, and only saw the usual platitudes. 

It was at that moment when I realized America could no longer lay claim to being a civilized nation. School kids were now considered fair game. 

Once again, those partners in mayhem, the Gun Manufactures and NRA proclaimed the usual drivel. It’s not a gun problem, it’s a mental health problem! 

The US does have a lot of unstable people, yet we don’t own a monopoly on mental health problems in the World. What we do own is a lot of guns. Heaps of them. “The Small Arms Survey stated that U.S. civilians alone account for 393 million (about 46 percent) of the worldwide total of civilian held firearms. This amounts to "120.5 firearms for every 100 residents." (Mind you. Americans make up a mere 4.4% of the World’s population) 

Apparently some of those firearms fall into the paws and claws of unhinged, angry Born in the USA type people. Hence in 2017, the equivalent of the entire city of Jacksonville, TX (14,500 population, 2010 Census) would have been murdered with bullet exhaling weapons. 

Until many Americans stop thinking of the Second Amendment as the Eleventh Commandment. “Thou shalt own many firearms to covet and collect.” Nothing will change. We will continue to be a Badass uncivilized country. One nation under God and Guns.

The US has a social disease. It’s gun related violence. America refuses to change the ways we do business in the sale, type and availability of firearms. 

(Book suggestion “Lethal Passage” by Erik Larson).

For the record, I do not own anything more dangerous than a few Swiss Army Knives. 

Last photo says it all.

Bullet proof backpacks for children

Shame on us.