This week was all upside down and turned around. Nothing particularly exciting. Just all...turned around, backwards, a sort of boring Wonderland of sorts.
For starters, my schedule went to mornings four of the five days I worked. I had figured the store was busier in the mornings than it actually is because of the high demand from co workers that they simply MUST open. Ummm....no...its worse than closing. For the first three hours I have found there might, if one is lucky, be ten customers through the doors. This is awful. And makes me wonder why my co workers struggle to get tasks done.
It does allow a cashier to do things that otherwise someone else would have to do. Such as price changes. I did them, all over the store, down every aisle without interruption or customers. The Spurminator had me do this once when I opened at the Howell store and it wasn't a small feat. At New Hudson, its easy.
I tore down a gondola. I condensed heating. I assembled push mowers. I condensed toys. All in the space of four hours. Unheard of at night. We are just a night store, the same as Howell. At noon, we had sold $400 of merchandise. Really.
Inventory happened. I, along with the Princess, spent an entire day weighing bolts and chain and rope. How...awful, really. If one hasn't had the particular aggravation of trying to slide a 40 pound bolt drawer back into place, and then tried to do that over and over and over for the space of a few hours then one doesn't know aggravation. At the end of all this nonsense, we got to add long columns of weights..on a calculator with no weird little arrow to correct typos. At that point, I was pretty certain I was in hell as I had to restart the first column something like 20 times.
And then the counting company came. I got elected to oversee clothing. Oh, bother. For four hours I watched people hand scanning things just waiting for them to need something identified. They may have needed help all of ten times. Dull is the word. Made for a long day.
Come to find out, our inventory was awful and the DM is very displeased. We are missing things the receiver has to hand key into the system and such. Huh. Well, we know she's incompetent, but the first thing the company thinks is, must be internal theft. Yeah. Sure. Now I'm offended because I know this isn't the case. No one I work with is that dumb and our store isn't that large for this to actually happen without someone noticing. Entire pallets of feed? An 80 gallon air compressor? Stoves?
Then, there was freight. Due to people calling off work, none of the planograms I was supposed to set happened since I was on register alllllll day. Most of the freight went into new planos. So I spent freight day setting planos.
Yesterday we worked on filling them. But there are still three entire walls and a giant middle fixture of planos to set and that's all in one department. There are more planos in other departments that haven't been set either. And there were still several pallets of freight in the backroom when we left.
We are informed that the Spurminator's "special customers" are no longer "special" and we will be trying to "wean" them off their discounts. Ummmmm? Yeah. Instructions from the DM and a sign that our new manager is going to be a dick. And then, we have to tell them that, if they throw a shit fit (and yes, they will, one already has) we are instructed to find a manager. I think this is ass backwards. The ASM KNOWS who these people are. When she sees them, she should make a beeline for them and have a talk. But, since she hates confrontation, she won't, so us underlings are going to have to bear the brunt.
And that was work.
Otherwise, my mom seems to be doing well after her knee replacement surgery.
Ruth had a birthday and I babysat James the Terrible (he's just relentless, not really terrible) so she and Joe could go out and see a movie without a baby scream babbling words throughout. He trundled about and laughed and delighted in trying to play with the computer cords and pull the dog's hair out by the roots. After a while, he wore himself out, got cranky and I managed to get him to snooze for about 40 minutes after which he smiled, laughed and became relentless once again. His big brother Max came home and put on some music and James bounced, danced, and laughed at that. Then tried to rip the cat's face off. Ruth and Joe came home and he smiled and babbled some more. It'd be interesting to know what he's babbling about since he's never quiet.
After which I was tired (since I'd had to be up at 5 am for work) and went home and saw Jon who was only disappointed he didn't get to play with James the Terrible. So, I guess he'll have to help watch him another time.
My body is fairly confused. It doesn't know when to eat, sleep or poop. It just knows its really cold outside and it likes warm socks and hot drinks.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
My Job, it Blows Goats
Somehow I've managed to avoid our District Manager for the last month or so. I don't know whether I have luck, or my pal John (ASM, borrowed, since we are still manager-less) to thank for this.
(We are not, in fact manager-less, he is just hiding at some other store for the time being...like a parasite...and I'm sure he is one or the Plastic Man wouldn't have chosen him. I have a few choice words for the Parasite if he ever surfaces over the two weeks out schedule. Such as: You've never met me, why are you DEMANDING I work at 6 am inventory day? I could be a lousy employee. You're relying on word of mouth that could be substantially mistaken. But, then, I forget, parasites are notably unintelligent, they just take what they want. And so, that ENTIRE week except for ONE day I am getting up at the ass crack and, on some days, dealing with rush hour. I hate you already, Parasite. At least I got Lorien to make all the early days sequential because, yes, I was being difficult.)
I have, however, been thinking up things I would like to ask the Plastic Man if I do have the unfortunate luck to run into him in the near future. He likes to march up to me, shake my hand, (every time I see him...he shakes my hand like we've never met before), and ask mildly retarded questions, such as "What's new?"
As if I'd tell him anything about my personal life. I always reply with an uninterested, "Nothing." And try to get the hell away from him as fast as possible. Mostly because I can almost feel the slime oozing from him and I don't want to taint myself with it.
I'm thinking that for every idiotic question he asks me, I'll ask him one without replying to his original question.
Foremost on my list is:
How does it feel to be peacefully assimilated into the Borg?
The company has made it quite clear that we, underlings are not allowed to have an opinion. I'm pretty certain that even DMs are not allowed to have an opinion...they are drones who carry out orders.
Are the clothing buyers crack addicts?
There is not one item of clothing on the ladies' clothing racks I would buy. Even on clearance, we are swamped with ugliness. The quality is terrible, the fit is awful, and the colors/prints are fit only for the elderly and eight year old girls.
Are you aware that all the stores are lying to you about the amount of time it takes to work the freight?
The new freight handling policy is a time consuming mess. No one likes it. It takes an extra day for merchandise to hit the floor. This is not a better system. Go back to night freight. Workers will be happier, customers will be happier.
If store personnel is required to expend so much energy on becoming more efficient, why does this not apply to the Distribution Center?
Gee, I don't know, packing things by department would be a much more efficient process than having us dig through the freight, sort it, then put it on the shelf. There are 8 year olds who could figure out that whips, halters, and fly spray go on a pallet headed for the equine department instead of packed away and mixed in a pallet with mower belts, trailer axles, and bearings.
Why do our adverts suck?
Clearly, they do. No one is buying what we are selling unless they need it.
Why are 1 in 3 of my current co-workers, including me, trying to find a feasible way to quit?
Long term hires. Not college or high school kids. Me, 5 years, Jason, 4 years, Courtney, 2 years, the Princess, 5 years, Lorien, 5 years, Amber K, 2 years. Because we are expendable and expected to put up with a great deal of bullshit for no money, that's why. Of course we don't care if we can't sell the stupid replacement or service plans. NONE of us buy them because we don't have the extra "x" dollars to spend either. Way, way back in the long, long ago before the company became so full of itself, we'd get an occasional "Good Job Meal." Which is where the store would buy everyone food for doing a lot of hard work on an especially brutal freight night or some such. No longer.
And, if I do feel like answering the Plastic Man's smarmy, "What's new?" I may answer like this, "Employee number 00317816 has nothing to report." And I may, if I still have this horrible flu/cold bug, sneeze into my hand and offer it up for him to shake.
(We are not, in fact manager-less, he is just hiding at some other store for the time being...like a parasite...and I'm sure he is one or the Plastic Man wouldn't have chosen him. I have a few choice words for the Parasite if he ever surfaces over the two weeks out schedule. Such as: You've never met me, why are you DEMANDING I work at 6 am inventory day? I could be a lousy employee. You're relying on word of mouth that could be substantially mistaken. But, then, I forget, parasites are notably unintelligent, they just take what they want. And so, that ENTIRE week except for ONE day I am getting up at the ass crack and, on some days, dealing with rush hour. I hate you already, Parasite. At least I got Lorien to make all the early days sequential because, yes, I was being difficult.)
I have, however, been thinking up things I would like to ask the Plastic Man if I do have the unfortunate luck to run into him in the near future. He likes to march up to me, shake my hand, (every time I see him...he shakes my hand like we've never met before), and ask mildly retarded questions, such as "What's new?"
As if I'd tell him anything about my personal life. I always reply with an uninterested, "Nothing." And try to get the hell away from him as fast as possible. Mostly because I can almost feel the slime oozing from him and I don't want to taint myself with it.
I'm thinking that for every idiotic question he asks me, I'll ask him one without replying to his original question.
Foremost on my list is:
How does it feel to be peacefully assimilated into the Borg?
The company has made it quite clear that we, underlings are not allowed to have an opinion. I'm pretty certain that even DMs are not allowed to have an opinion...they are drones who carry out orders.
Are the clothing buyers crack addicts?
There is not one item of clothing on the ladies' clothing racks I would buy. Even on clearance, we are swamped with ugliness. The quality is terrible, the fit is awful, and the colors/prints are fit only for the elderly and eight year old girls.
Are you aware that all the stores are lying to you about the amount of time it takes to work the freight?
The new freight handling policy is a time consuming mess. No one likes it. It takes an extra day for merchandise to hit the floor. This is not a better system. Go back to night freight. Workers will be happier, customers will be happier.
If store personnel is required to expend so much energy on becoming more efficient, why does this not apply to the Distribution Center?
Gee, I don't know, packing things by department would be a much more efficient process than having us dig through the freight, sort it, then put it on the shelf. There are 8 year olds who could figure out that whips, halters, and fly spray go on a pallet headed for the equine department instead of packed away and mixed in a pallet with mower belts, trailer axles, and bearings.
Why do our adverts suck?
Clearly, they do. No one is buying what we are selling unless they need it.
Why are 1 in 3 of my current co-workers, including me, trying to find a feasible way to quit?
Long term hires. Not college or high school kids. Me, 5 years, Jason, 4 years, Courtney, 2 years, the Princess, 5 years, Lorien, 5 years, Amber K, 2 years. Because we are expendable and expected to put up with a great deal of bullshit for no money, that's why. Of course we don't care if we can't sell the stupid replacement or service plans. NONE of us buy them because we don't have the extra "x" dollars to spend either. Way, way back in the long, long ago before the company became so full of itself, we'd get an occasional "Good Job Meal." Which is where the store would buy everyone food for doing a lot of hard work on an especially brutal freight night or some such. No longer.
And, if I do feel like answering the Plastic Man's smarmy, "What's new?" I may answer like this, "Employee number 00317816 has nothing to report." And I may, if I still have this horrible flu/cold bug, sneeze into my hand and offer it up for him to shake.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Breast Cancer and Corporations
I am currently watching a Canadian documentary on breast cancer called Pink Ribbons, Inc. It is making me fairly angry considering I recognize most of the "good works" by corporations as public relations stunts to earn money. Yep. Sounds like a corporation. Get the name of the company out there in the public, slap something like 10 percent of every purchase on the label and people will buy it because lots of us have known someone struggling with chemo because they have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
On the flip side, insult women who have died from breast cancer because they no longer have a voice by referring to other sufferers as "survivors" as though the struggle of those who died was worth nothing, or they didn't try hard enough.
One myth is that if you catch breast cancer early enough you will survive.
False. Sometimes it just doesn't matter. That is life.
If you or anyone you know has had breast cancer or has bought anything pink because the company donates a portion of the proceeds to a cancer charity, I recommend tracking this down via Netflix or other media.
What exactly are these charities researching? Has any of them published any valid results?
Why does the FDA not require testing on many of the products we use in day to day life? Deodorants, colognes, shampoos, makeup, ect...none of those things are subject to safety tests and yet there are so many chemicals in any one of those products that we use daily, that most of us have no idea what we are slathering on our skins and therefore into our bloodstreams.
Not to mention the food we eat.
If you want to support someone with breast cancer I suggest you do so on an individual level.
Make dinner.
Pay a bill.
Offer mental support.
Clean their house.
Be creative.
I know when Jon and I heard Sharon M. was undergoing chemo, there wasn't much we could afford to do to help her out. But we did take her flowers and, in general, let her know we were thinking of her. We went to the Detroit Zoo with her and her family. She had a blast.
I consider that something small. But who knows how much she appreciated it. Sharon knows. And that's what matters.
On the flip side, insult women who have died from breast cancer because they no longer have a voice by referring to other sufferers as "survivors" as though the struggle of those who died was worth nothing, or they didn't try hard enough.
One myth is that if you catch breast cancer early enough you will survive.
False. Sometimes it just doesn't matter. That is life.
If you or anyone you know has had breast cancer or has bought anything pink because the company donates a portion of the proceeds to a cancer charity, I recommend tracking this down via Netflix or other media.
What exactly are these charities researching? Has any of them published any valid results?
Why does the FDA not require testing on many of the products we use in day to day life? Deodorants, colognes, shampoos, makeup, ect...none of those things are subject to safety tests and yet there are so many chemicals in any one of those products that we use daily, that most of us have no idea what we are slathering on our skins and therefore into our bloodstreams.
Not to mention the food we eat.
If you want to support someone with breast cancer I suggest you do so on an individual level.
Make dinner.
Pay a bill.
Offer mental support.
Clean their house.
Be creative.
I know when Jon and I heard Sharon M. was undergoing chemo, there wasn't much we could afford to do to help her out. But we did take her flowers and, in general, let her know we were thinking of her. We went to the Detroit Zoo with her and her family. She had a blast.
I consider that something small. But who knows how much she appreciated it. Sharon knows. And that's what matters.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy 2013!
I am such a wild child.
My New Year thus far...
Lying around and napping. Yep. I had a tiny glass of wine due to the fact that I am somehow rather sick-ish and feel exhausted even though I am lying around and napping. Jon says I have a fever. Watching some old History Channel series that Leonard Nemoy narrated. I don't know what it is called so I am referring to it as: The World According to Spock.
I am a lucky woman though.
Jon has taken it upon himself to vacuum, do laundry and dishes while I loaf about sick-like. I didn't ask him to do any of these things. I think he's being nice and has probably come to the conclusion that I feel shitty and there will be no clean laundry or dishes until I am a bit better.
Back to work tomorrow. Sick or not. The wonders of paid holidays. I always seem to manage to get sick near those. Have to go in to get paid for the holiday. Oh well, at least I get paid for it. Jon worked a total of one day Christmas week due to the holiday...and gets paid for one day. This week won't be much better for him. Eventually, after he's been there long enough, he'll get paid days. I don't know when that will be.
My New Year thus far...
Lying around and napping. Yep. I had a tiny glass of wine due to the fact that I am somehow rather sick-ish and feel exhausted even though I am lying around and napping. Jon says I have a fever. Watching some old History Channel series that Leonard Nemoy narrated. I don't know what it is called so I am referring to it as: The World According to Spock.
I am a lucky woman though.
Jon has taken it upon himself to vacuum, do laundry and dishes while I loaf about sick-like. I didn't ask him to do any of these things. I think he's being nice and has probably come to the conclusion that I feel shitty and there will be no clean laundry or dishes until I am a bit better.
Back to work tomorrow. Sick or not. The wonders of paid holidays. I always seem to manage to get sick near those. Have to go in to get paid for the holiday. Oh well, at least I get paid for it. Jon worked a total of one day Christmas week due to the holiday...and gets paid for one day. This week won't be much better for him. Eventually, after he's been there long enough, he'll get paid days. I don't know when that will be.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
The Particular SUCK of SNOW
I went home for Christmas; which was nice.
Plenty of food. Comfy bed. Good company.
No snow in sight.
And then, on the day I was to leave. Snow. Yuck. I hate snow.
We ventured out early on...the roads were shitty and hadn't been salted. Turned around, went back to my parent's house.
A few hours later we tried again. The roads were still shitty but had been salted. So we decided to press onward. At a roaring 25 to 30 mph on main arteries through Amish county in low gear in the Little Yellow Car that Could. Low fear for hold back...otherwise...the Little Yellow Car That Could...likes to take off like a Rocket Ship and we would have ended up in the ditch like lots of other people.
At blazing speeds we made a treacherous and scary journey to Wooster, OH and then to Ashland, OH. I counted all the tiny, small burgs as Glorious Victories. SUVs weren't faring much better. They just had better ground clearance and more weight. The Little Yellow Car that Could is made mostly of lightweight fiberglass and plastic.
The other drivers, even on the Ohio Turnpike (Yet another Glorious Victory!!!! We made it to an INTERSTATE!!!!!) were fairly courteous. The closer to Michigan we ventured, the less courteous and more scary the other drivers became. Yes, blaze past me on slickery road just to slam on your brakes because there are SNOW PLOWS in all the lanes....and somehow, you didn't manage to see all the hulk and flashing lights. Don't know how.
I gave up the driver's seat ten miles after the Michigan border at the first available rest stop. I had driven with total tunnel vision, utter concentration and steady on the pedal...on and off the shifting in and out of low gear for a grand total of...6.5 hours...which wouldn't have been so awful if the roads had been less treacherous. I was spent.
Jon then took over for the remaining hour and a half. He kept saying how interesting the roads were, so I'd look over, check his speed and tell him, the roads would get less interesting at a slower speed. The other drivers were plenty miffed at us...but they SHOULDN'T have been going as fast as they were driving and they shouldn't have been driving so close to our car as they were. We mainly just stuck ourselves in the slow lane (when there were lanes) behind some steady but slow semi truck. If those guys are going slow and steady, the roads aren't safe.
At last check, when I walked in the door and called my parents to let them know we were home safe, they had about 8 inches of snow...which I would have been stuck at their house unless someone plowed out their driveway for me. Yellow Car that Could bottoms out at around 8 inches...10 tops. It was still snowing when I called, so no idea what their total really was. Here, we had a good 5 inches...so I had to go out, find the show shovel and scrape off our porch.
Stupid snow.
I also need to shovel off the sidewalk, do the porch again, and buy salt.
I think idiots walking in the snow in front of other people's houses should be aware they could potentially fall on their asses and hurt themselves. I am not a store. I do not offer a public service. Therefore, they should have NO RIGHT to sue me..however, in this awesome country we live in, they somehow have that right. I think I should have signs made up that read
Plenty of food. Comfy bed. Good company.
No snow in sight.
And then, on the day I was to leave. Snow. Yuck. I hate snow.
We ventured out early on...the roads were shitty and hadn't been salted. Turned around, went back to my parent's house.
A few hours later we tried again. The roads were still shitty but had been salted. So we decided to press onward. At a roaring 25 to 30 mph on main arteries through Amish county in low gear in the Little Yellow Car that Could. Low fear for hold back...otherwise...the Little Yellow Car That Could...likes to take off like a Rocket Ship and we would have ended up in the ditch like lots of other people.
At blazing speeds we made a treacherous and scary journey to Wooster, OH and then to Ashland, OH. I counted all the tiny, small burgs as Glorious Victories. SUVs weren't faring much better. They just had better ground clearance and more weight. The Little Yellow Car that Could is made mostly of lightweight fiberglass and plastic.
The other drivers, even on the Ohio Turnpike (Yet another Glorious Victory!!!! We made it to an INTERSTATE!!!!!) were fairly courteous. The closer to Michigan we ventured, the less courteous and more scary the other drivers became. Yes, blaze past me on slickery road just to slam on your brakes because there are SNOW PLOWS in all the lanes....and somehow, you didn't manage to see all the hulk and flashing lights. Don't know how.
I gave up the driver's seat ten miles after the Michigan border at the first available rest stop. I had driven with total tunnel vision, utter concentration and steady on the pedal...on and off the shifting in and out of low gear for a grand total of...6.5 hours...which wouldn't have been so awful if the roads had been less treacherous. I was spent.
Jon then took over for the remaining hour and a half. He kept saying how interesting the roads were, so I'd look over, check his speed and tell him, the roads would get less interesting at a slower speed. The other drivers were plenty miffed at us...but they SHOULDN'T have been going as fast as they were driving and they shouldn't have been driving so close to our car as they were. We mainly just stuck ourselves in the slow lane (when there were lanes) behind some steady but slow semi truck. If those guys are going slow and steady, the roads aren't safe.
At last check, when I walked in the door and called my parents to let them know we were home safe, they had about 8 inches of snow...which I would have been stuck at their house unless someone plowed out their driveway for me. Yellow Car that Could bottoms out at around 8 inches...10 tops. It was still snowing when I called, so no idea what their total really was. Here, we had a good 5 inches...so I had to go out, find the show shovel and scrape off our porch.
Stupid snow.
I also need to shovel off the sidewalk, do the porch again, and buy salt.
I think idiots walking in the snow in front of other people's houses should be aware they could potentially fall on their asses and hurt themselves. I am not a store. I do not offer a public service. Therefore, they should have NO RIGHT to sue me..however, in this awesome country we live in, they somehow have that right. I think I should have signs made up that read
Monday, December 17, 2012
School Shootings and Christmas Muzak
Fairly annoyed with lots of recent happenings.
Firstly, I have been listening to irritating Xmas music for...four solid weeks now...it does not put one in the Christmas spirit, or...whatever its supposed to do....it just grates one's nerves and causes visions of taking an axe to evil Musak box while I am subjected to the idiotic music for 40 hours a week--more if I am at any other retailer. I know its not making the shoppers any less crabby...in fact, I think it only reminds them that they have little money and little time to spend.
School shootings and the way simplistic folk like to place simplistic solutions on a very serious issue. Somehow, (according to most of my friends, family and acquaintances via Facebook) its because of the following:
1. God, the Existence or Lack of, Satan, the Existence or Lack of, and the absence of religion and prayer within the school system.
I find this one troubling. Of course religion and prayer in school is absent. We, in this country that was founded on religious freedom, have made a choice to separate church and state. Pray to a Christian God, then you must then pray to a God/Goddess/Deity from EVERY faith so as not to show favoritism. Also, I fail to see exactly how prayer in school would have stopped an armed, mentally ill person from being deranged.
There have always been good and bad things in the world. Every religion has yet been powerless to prevent the bad.
2. Gun Control (because, as we all know, the mentally deranged often obey ALL the laws)
Also troubling since I have a gun and so have most of my family, friends and acquaintances for all of my life. All of us have been trained, since childhood, to treat ALL guns as if they are loaded and to NOT point them at anything/one that you do not intend to kill...meaning we were taught properly to respect things that cannot be taken back. Once that bullet leaves the chamber, someone or something is going to be hurt or die.
There have been no gun accidents in my family. It is a hugely large family who all own guns, and several have Concealed Carry Licenses.
There was one suicide. A properly trained Vietnam Vet who INTENDED to end HIS OWN life. Not someone else's. And yes, he was mentally ill. After all that, it would be more surprising that he had come home unscathed.
The U.S. Constitution gives us the right to have and bear arms. If the government does somehow manage to outlaw them, most of us will still have and bear arms, just illegally. This country is nothing if not a country filled with rebels. Just because the government says something is so does not make us all follow along like happy, trusting sheep.
The guns in the shooting were LEGALLY OBTAINED by a teacher. Shooters can always find guns, legally or illegally; according to the pattern, it just doesn't matter. Timothy McVeigh used explosives, the 911 conspirators used airplanes....the HOW doesn't matter so much as the WHY.
THE WHY
It is NOT done purely for notoriety, which is what apparently Morgan Freeman has suggested. I don't remember ANY of the names for ANY of the school shootings since Columbine. Notoriety, is probably involved in some, weird twisted manner, just how, I cannot say.
I would say the availability of mental health services, the lack of mental health institutions, the lack of affordable treatment, and the lack of health insurance would be more to blame than guns. Always, in these tragedies, some form of mental health help would most likely have been beneficial and perhaps prevented them from even happening, or at least given the parents of these individuals some options. I read a really really interesting article about it today.
I am going to post it.
Here It Is
The fact that this is a cycle that keeps occurring makes me wonder just what can be done to stop it. What are each of us NOT noticing about our own daily lives. Small things somehow always become big things when ignored. I know in my own marriage its always the small things that come back to bite us in the ass when we least expect it because, at the time, they weren't large enough issues to have been addressed properly.
Okay, enough of my tirade. I've probably bored everyone stiff...but, if I don't get to vent, I would surely spontaneously combust.
Firstly, I have been listening to irritating Xmas music for...four solid weeks now...it does not put one in the Christmas spirit, or...whatever its supposed to do....it just grates one's nerves and causes visions of taking an axe to evil Musak box while I am subjected to the idiotic music for 40 hours a week--more if I am at any other retailer. I know its not making the shoppers any less crabby...in fact, I think it only reminds them that they have little money and little time to spend.
School shootings and the way simplistic folk like to place simplistic solutions on a very serious issue. Somehow, (according to most of my friends, family and acquaintances via Facebook) its because of the following:
1. God, the Existence or Lack of, Satan, the Existence or Lack of, and the absence of religion and prayer within the school system.
I find this one troubling. Of course religion and prayer in school is absent. We, in this country that was founded on religious freedom, have made a choice to separate church and state. Pray to a Christian God, then you must then pray to a God/Goddess/Deity from EVERY faith so as not to show favoritism. Also, I fail to see exactly how prayer in school would have stopped an armed, mentally ill person from being deranged.
There have always been good and bad things in the world. Every religion has yet been powerless to prevent the bad.
2. Gun Control (because, as we all know, the mentally deranged often obey ALL the laws)
Also troubling since I have a gun and so have most of my family, friends and acquaintances for all of my life. All of us have been trained, since childhood, to treat ALL guns as if they are loaded and to NOT point them at anything/one that you do not intend to kill...meaning we were taught properly to respect things that cannot be taken back. Once that bullet leaves the chamber, someone or something is going to be hurt or die.
There have been no gun accidents in my family. It is a hugely large family who all own guns, and several have Concealed Carry Licenses.
There was one suicide. A properly trained Vietnam Vet who INTENDED to end HIS OWN life. Not someone else's. And yes, he was mentally ill. After all that, it would be more surprising that he had come home unscathed.
The U.S. Constitution gives us the right to have and bear arms. If the government does somehow manage to outlaw them, most of us will still have and bear arms, just illegally. This country is nothing if not a country filled with rebels. Just because the government says something is so does not make us all follow along like happy, trusting sheep.
The guns in the shooting were LEGALLY OBTAINED by a teacher. Shooters can always find guns, legally or illegally; according to the pattern, it just doesn't matter. Timothy McVeigh used explosives, the 911 conspirators used airplanes....the HOW doesn't matter so much as the WHY.
THE WHY
It is NOT done purely for notoriety, which is what apparently Morgan Freeman has suggested. I don't remember ANY of the names for ANY of the school shootings since Columbine. Notoriety, is probably involved in some, weird twisted manner, just how, I cannot say.
I would say the availability of mental health services, the lack of mental health institutions, the lack of affordable treatment, and the lack of health insurance would be more to blame than guns. Always, in these tragedies, some form of mental health help would most likely have been beneficial and perhaps prevented them from even happening, or at least given the parents of these individuals some options. I read a really really interesting article about it today.
I am going to post it.
Here It Is
The fact that this is a cycle that keeps occurring makes me wonder just what can be done to stop it. What are each of us NOT noticing about our own daily lives. Small things somehow always become big things when ignored. I know in my own marriage its always the small things that come back to bite us in the ass when we least expect it because, at the time, they weren't large enough issues to have been addressed properly.
Okay, enough of my tirade. I've probably bored everyone stiff...but, if I don't get to vent, I would surely spontaneously combust.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)