One Strange Week in a Hot July

The news was horrific—12 dead, over 50 wounded, and all of them young. The oldest, according to one report, only 31.  The identities and personalities are just coming out, and we see their pictures, study their faces, and hear from their family and friends. 

So what happened?  Fans rushed to see the latest Batman flick and and a gunman opened fire.   The action on the screen paled to the reality beneath it.

 I could barely absorb the story because these last few days, even before the massacre,  have been surreal--a strange, weird week playing up to the drama in Aurora.  We got in from Canada Tuesday—an exciting, fun-filled vacation to Montreal and Quebec City.  Running around like maniacs so we wouldn’t miss a sight, I was relieved to go home.  But landing in Orlando seemed different somehow.  Things weren’t quite what they seemed.

                                                                       

When I turned on Channel 2, WESH TV, I heard the latest local news report—the usual drug arrests, murders, and even a pedophile.  But the call letters on the bottom of the screen came from a foreign station—a small unknown town in Pennsylvania.

Did Pennsylvania invade Florida while we were partying up north?    Funny, it never made the news.  

But what difference did it make where the stories originate?  Unfortunately, all cities have drug arrests, car accidents, and domestic abuse.  It all sounded the same to me

Nevertheless, I kept checking the call letters, finally recognizing the familiar WESH on the late news Thursday evening.  They're back, I thought.  But what the hell happened?  The Orlando Sentinel ran a story the following day explaining that Brighthouse and NBC couldn’t come to terms on their contract, and the cable company pulled the plug.   

                                                                     

Hey, maybe that’s not a bad idea.   

Not that I have anything against Channel 2, but if the local news is basically generic, we could rotate reporters, and the viewers could listen to everyone else’s drug deals and car jackings.  No one would notice the difference, and what a savings it would be!  They could invest their profits into education.

Then the news hit yesterday about the massacre in Colorado.

 I kept thinking I’m thankful I didn’t live in Aurora, grateful I’d never consider attending a midnight showing, and who cared about Batman?  Anyway, bad things always happen Out There. 

Survivor speaks to the media

                                                                                

Of course I’m kidding myself.   We all know the massacre didn’t have to come from Colorado.  We could’ve heard the news from Ames, Iowa, or Chicago, or Smalltown, PA. 

That’s the scary part.  Monsters can plant themselves anywhere and buy weapons at the corner store.  So we hope everything will be fine, and in time, we believe that things will get back to normal.  Isn't that how life's suppose to be?  We pray for the victims’ recovery while we pray for our own futures, imploring a higher power that it shall never happen again.