A Tear Falls

It probably started like any other day. The children woke up to breakfast and early morning chores. They sprinted to school since it was a short walk while others were late as usual. Their mothers kissed them goodbye and said they loved them. ‘I’ll see you at lunch,’ they probably said. ‘Be good and mind your teacher’, another echoed. Just like any other day but of course we know October 2 wasn’t like any other day for the Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Charles Carl Roberts IV, a father of three, started his day by arming himself with three guns, a stun gun, two knives, a pile of wood and a bag of 600 rounds of ammunition. He headed off to the schoolhouse with a score to settle and lives to shatter.

We all know what happened next. I’m compelled to speak on this today because it needs to be discussed. Everyone in the world should be shocked and outraged at this cowardly act. It’s going to be talked about a lot today and it should.

In Miami, we have our fair share of missing, abused and murdered children. It’s appalling and you never get used to these stories. Movies, television and music have conditioned us to tolerate these violent acts and assimilate them into our culture. Death has become a perverse attraction especially to teenagers. Death is real and life is fleeting.

Imagine a place where violent images and messages are seldom whispered. You can still play in the street and neighbors look out for neighbors without hesitation. There probably aren’t even locks on the door. I can only imagine how this is impacting the Amish. We’ve managed to bring our depraved neurosis to their community. Those poor little girls. I hope their last thoughts weren’t fearful.

I have an issue with the news crews showing this massacre live. This is now part of “live” television. It’s part of our culture to watch hostage situations and police chases on the evening news as if it were a movie but what we forget is that these people are real. We’re not watching an episode of CSI. These are real people and real situations. We’re impeding on their privacy for ratings. Is there even such a thing as privacy these days? We stalk our celebrities, politicians and anyone else who has a juicy story. I’m not saying the media shouldn’t cover live events. I just believe that at times it is exploitation. Barreling into Amish country is exploitive and disrespectful. It makes a great story today but will the media do any follow-up once the fury has died. Will the local TV stations help in the healing process?

Today, I’m asking you to be a little kinder. Kiss your husband even though he didn’t fill up the water container. Hug your children even if they won’t go to bed tonight. Remember those little girls. Love.