The evolution of fear

I still have no update for you on the car-door-dinger. He's been hard to catch up with the past few days. When I have an update, I'll post it right away.

In the mean time, check out this story about a young man in Homestead, Fla., south and west of Miami, who was arrested on March 27th after making threats over the Internet to carry out a Virginia Tech-type massacre.

So police went to his home and they found a stash of more than a dozen guns, including several AK-47s, and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition. Authorities are looking into whether the guns were purchased legally. Either way, 20-year-old Calin Chi Wong, who threatened to light things up like Va. Tech was released on $7,500 bond the very next day. He's free. On the street. After making that kind of threat.

There was a time people would have reacted in pure fear to that sort of threat. But what I found interesting about Wong's case is people around here - especially news consumers - sounded pissed off, not scared.

One Friday or Saturday night when I was like 17, I had the evening off from my part-time job at Belk, selling women's shoes. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I made a mint on Nine West. Anyway, I had no date this night, so I was at a gym on a local naval base playing pick-up basketball with my buddies. We were all enjoying a good game - a little rough, but typical for playground style hoops. Anyway, after one sorta hard foul, the recipient of the blow complained that it was uncalled for. It was an accident. He was hit during a mad scramble for the ball. But instead of accepting the offender's apologies, the guy who was fouled yells out that he's pissed off and that he's going out to the parking lot to his car to retrieve a gun. Well, at first we all reacted the way you might expect. We started yelling and running in circles like chickens with our heads cut off. But then one of the guys stops us and says wait a minute. If he supposedly has a gun in his car, why are we allowing him to go to his car? Good question. So our fear instantly turned to anger, and we banded together like Minutemen, sprinted out the door, and caught him before he made it to his car. Then we proceeded to beat him like a cartoon character. I'm not a violent guy by nature. I'm more peaceful than Gandhi. But this guy threatened our lives. Surely no one will disagree with me, when I say this guy deserved it? The base police came. We explained what happened. Surprisingly he didn't deny it. And the police basically told him he got what he deserved. They searched his car and found no gun, made him leave the gym, and he was banned from coming back onto the base.

My point is these types of reactions are good signs, as far as I'm concerned. People who mass murder and people who threaten to do so may be forced to think twice about their actions if they believe us sheeple, the general public will stand up to them and stop them in their tracks.

Virginia Tech

There is not much to say about this other than it's sad and bananas all at the same time.

Outside of the 9/11 terror attacks, the occasional domestic plane crash, and combat fatalities, you never hear of this many people being killed at once in/from this country.

There's no explaining it either. That's where the bananas part comes in. It's almost pointless to ask why. They say the shooter wrote dark things. OK. I think dark thoughts sometimes. So do some of you. What separates us from the poop-flinging primates is our ability and instinct to never, ever, ever, ever, ever act out in accordance with that occasional dark thought.

So why can't some people control that? Sure, there's legitimate mental illness. That explains some folks becoming killers. But for once, I wish a spree/serial/mass killer would not commit suicide in the end, 'cause I'd like to know what he was thinking.

A buddy and I were discussing this yesterday, and he speculated that this is an example - an extreme example, but an example nonetheless - of some younger folk not being properly groomed these days to deal with failure or loss.

I'm not sure I agree with my guy 100%, but I see where he's going with it.

When I was a kid I had the misfortune of my little league baseball teams being coached by my dad. I say "misfortune," 'cause when you're the son of the coach and the coach is a strict military man you catch more grief than your teammates for errors and what not. On the other hand, the discipline he put on us whipped us into shape. And year after year we won our championships. But there was the occasional loss. And while we were kids and it hurt like hell to lose, we pretty much took it in stride 'cause my dad and the other boys parents pretty much made it clear to us early on that there was no shame in coming in second if you had fun, tried your best, etc. I see kids today sometimes go nuts when they lose 'cause they're not familiar with the concept. I've seen little leagues where they won't even keep score for fear of giving the kids a complex by declaring one side winner and one side loser.

Same goes with dating. I got taught pretty early you don't always get the girl you want. So what? Find another one.

A loved one dies. You grieve. You miss them. You embrace their memory and keep living your life.

The list goes on. Weren't you taught to deal with the bad/sad/mad?

The Virginia Tech shooter is said to have had some serious mental issues. But I think my guy might be onto something.

In the mean time, R.I.P. to the innocent.