Today an automated call from my daughters’ school scared the hell out of me.
It’s a phone call any parent dreads getting. My wife answered her phone in the office next to the kitchen. The phone was on speaker mode and I listened as I was preparing my breakfast.
The voice, not dissimilar to Siri, started announcing the intro speaking, “Goodmorning Cornerstone Families…” Seemed odd to be getting a call from the school at 9 AM. The second those words were spoken my heart melted into my gut.
Instantly my mind raced to the possibility this was notification something horrific was or had occurred.
That brief point in time lumped a knot in my throat leaving me on the edge of boiling fear.
I stopped making my food to listen, my body stopped, my mind stopped, my breathing stopped. Anticipating the next words hurt too much.
Blank hopefulness held my whole being on pause.
The following electronic words were as comforting and relieving as any will ever be, “this is a reminder that Friday is a student holiday…” My soul let out an exasperation equivalent to that of winning the recent billion dollars plus lottery.
Complacency Will Not Stand!
What is it any of us can do if a determined individual(s) with malicious disturbing intent decides to find their way into our children’s school and hunt them? How can we fight back? How can we prevent?
This entire conundrum enrages me, makes me wonder why these challenged perpetrators of evil haven’t been apprehended and helped prior to the act, and wonder where our world is headed.
It’s not just guns, but knives, explosives, and plain old physical brutality coupled with bullying greater than anything experienced prior to social networks.
Writing and all forms of media must unite in not just reporting but denouncing this violence with much greater intensity. It seems we forget about tragedies easily until the next one grabs the headlines.
