My mother called me last night to ask me if I spent any time in Lane Bryant during the day.
Uh… no…? Why…?
Oh.
A gunman killed 5 women and injured 1, in a Lane Bryant in Tinley Park, Illinois. One of the women killed was a store clerk and the others were shoppers.
My mother heard that Tinley Park was a Chicago suburb, and was worried that it might be near where I live. Actually, it’s at least 60 miles from our house.
I heard about the story briefly on the television before she called and hadn’t even thought twice about it. I didn’t stop to think that my mother might hear the story and be worried.
This made me think about how jaded I have become regarding violence and murder. I read about it in the paper every day and don’t think twice about it.
How awful is that? I feel like I am so over-exposed to sensational news stories that when I hear/read a real one, I don’t have a true reaction to it.
The more I think about this story, the more awful I feel about it. I can’t imagine the horror of doing something that is part of your routine – shopping, working, dining – and having something like this happen.
The sad part is that the killer is still on the loose, and even if they do catch him, it won’t bring these people back.
I am guilty of not ever thinking deeper into the story either when I hear about violent things like this. But I read that article and it is really so sad. I can’t imagine how completely devastated, heart-broken and confused our family, or any family would be, if someone was murdered for no reason out of the blue. It is hard enough accepting death from diseases, old age or natural causes, I can’t imagine having to cope with knowing someone you love was shot and killed because one man wanted to rob a freakin’ Lane Bryant. ugh.
Christina – You bring up such a good point – with disease and old age, death is expected. When something like this happens, it is not expected at all. What if one of the women left to shop because she was fighting with her husband and wanted to get out of the house for a bit? How awful would he feel then? We can only hope against that… and that no one we know every experiences anything like this.
It’s strange because this story didn’t much affect me either. Granted it’s nowhere near us as well. But it is only a half mile from where my brother and I were going to those concerts this past summer. So you’d think that might affect me to some degree. Nope. We are a desensitized society, aren’t we?
See now, I saw it and have been paying attention. It’s just such a baffling crime, no real connection to his actions with what happened.
When I moved to chicago I was completely amazed at the amount of murder and mayhem on the news out there. I went from a town that spent maybe 15 minutes on major crimes then 45 on weather and stupid stuff, to Chicago which actually had an extra long new broadcast and 99% of it was murder and horrible things. It was awful. I stopped watching the news out there altogether.
Of course, now we hear about moose in traffic. That’s the big story. And then it’s 75% weather. I’m trying to decide which is worse.
i agree, it is sad that we are so over-exposed to violence that whenever i hear or read about anything i basically look for a new or place to see if it might be anyone i know… if not i kinda just disregard it… that’s sad… i think that’s one of the “real” reasons that i quit reading the newspaper and watching the news…
Yeah I lived in LA during the Riots and would get calls from my grandmother asking if I was ok and if such and such was happening near my house. Most of the stuff was at least 60 miles from me but I think part of the problem was the news sensationalized it to the country. Which don’t get me wrong the riots were bad, but I saw (because they sent me newspapers from their areas) what the news did with it and it kind of made me not pay as much attention to violence as it is posted in the news. It was not nearly as wide spread as they made it sound. However, it always makes me sad to hear when senseless violence happens because way to many innocent people are taken that way. Glad to hear it wasn’t in your area though!!!
kapgar – I read an article in the paper about the “this never happens in my neighborhood” attitude… well, I guess it does…
Kyra – you would know, after living out here! It’s sickening, the amount of crime! I would much rather hear about the moose!
CourtneyInControl – sometimes it’s easier to quit watching and leave all those nasty thoughts… I think a lot of the news is hype to make us feel anxious and afraid.
Felicia – That’s a good point. I didn’t think about what my mother may have heard from it! Maybe it was completely blown out of proportion.