d.: I will be doing this blog solo today. I looked at my work email this morning before I left work. It said that the facility the Cal.E. was traveling to work at today has a computer problem. Their router is down. The email said that supervisory employees could bring in their personal cell phonaes if s/he had clearance from the warden. Since the email was sent to her work email only, and the only way she can access that is through a computer at one of our workplaces, I don't think that she got the message. That gives me a chance to address some issues in the real world.
The school shooting in Uvalde yesterday was horrific, just as the shooting in Buffalo ten days ago was. The one at Sandy Hook was tragic as well, along with many, many others. I am not going to argue for or against gun control, except to bring up two facts. The first one is that a gun does not fire itself, someone must pull the trigger for it to fire. The second thing that I have to say is that I DO feel that it is too easy to buy a gun, legally or otherwise. I know this from personal experience. It is not hard to buy a gun. It was probably harder for me to obtain restricted chemicals (when I had a license to do so) than to buy a gun. That SHOULD change.
However, one can look up the directions to build a pipe bomb on the internet, and obtain all of the necessary supplies legally. That would be much more deadly than an AR 15. A private citizen, though, do I feel, does not need to own a military-issue assault rifle. I also have some friends who are smart enough and so familiar with guns that they would be able to build their own guns if they were not available at a store. Imagine if one of these gunmen had that skill and knowledge. He could have built a full automated weapon and probably killed twice as many people. The issue, though, is not guns, to my way of thinking. It is a lack of respect.
I once scolded my oldest son for his lack of respect when he was a teenager. His rebuttal was, "Well, y'all raised us!" That is the issue, I think. My generation was taught to say "Yes, sir, no ma'am, thank you and please." These are seldom used words in the twenty-first century. My generation did not insist on this respectful rhetoric from our kids, as my parent's generation did.
I think that one's speech patterns can speak to his or her personality. The Uvalde gunman had some disturbing rhetoric on his social media accounts. He also, apparently, had a complex about his lisp that was developed when in grade and high school because he was bullied. That led to the shooting, according to some experts.
I have three sons, all grown. Each felt that he was being bullied because he was "different" while in grade school .The oldest did not look like his classmates. The color of his hair made him feel as if he looked different from the other kids. My wife and I pointed out to him that many women would be envious of his hair color. He learned to deal with the taunting and smile.
My middle son was extremely shy as a young child. He felt that he was being bullied because of his shy personality. When he became a teenager, though, he used his quietness to his advantage. Most girls and women appreciate a male who is a good listener and does not talk much.
My youngest son had the largest struggle. He was slightly learning disabled. HIs classmates DID try to bully him...at first. They did not realize my youngest son had two older brothers who cut him no slack. The bullying stopped quickly once the other kids understood that my small son was as tough as they come. Fortunately, he was a sweet kid that all of his teachers loved. They all went out of their way to help him, because he was polite and respectful. His attitude is, "I cannot change who I am, so I need to learn to deal with my situation." My son is nineteen years old. I have met forty year olds who are not this mature about their circumstances, mostly at my work.
I work at a pre-release prison facility. Most of the inmates are within two years of their release date. Sadly, most are more respectful than many people I have met in the "free world." I do work at a facility where the inmates are supposedly "reformed," but I have worked at four other facilities in my career in medical correctional care. The only place that I felt disrespected was at the "level five" facility where inmates with life sentences with no hope of parole are housed. They have no incentive to be respectful. Is the same true of the general population in the "free world?"
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