A Lady Walks Into A Bar...

...except that this isn't a joke.

I met my friend Meghan (she of the Epic Week Monday/Tuesday SoCal Adventure) at a bar called The Sutter Club last night. It's in the historic district of Folsom, where we both grew up. Anyway, a high school classmate bartends there and we thought it would be fun to meet up for a drink and some chit-chat. (For the record, Mom, I didn't drink a lot, and spent the last couple of hours downing water, thanks to Faisal always magically noticing when my glass was empty and keeping the fresh ice and water coming--dude's good at his job.)

Anyway, it was just another light-hearted evening, socializing, realizing the guy sitting next to us was another FHS Class of '96 alum, and chatting with him. Then Faisal says, "Yeah, so Osama bin Laden is dead."

I think I let out an inelegant snort and said something along the lines of, "Yeah. Right." But Faisal wasn't laughing. "No way!"

He turned one of the bar TVs to CNN, and sure enough, there it was. President Obama telling us that Osama bin Laden, the most hated and feared terrorist leader of this century so far, was killed by a Navy SEAL operation this weekend.

My first reaction, was--I admit it--to throw up my hands and squeal, "Woohoo!" I have no love for a man who was the mastermind behind September 11th, who has encouraged so much hate. I can still remember how terrible I felt on July 7, 2005, as my beloved London reeled from the Transport Bombings. I remember Madrid, Bali, and I know there have been too many terrorist acts planned by bin Laden. Pure and simple, he was not a good man.

But as we sat there watching news reports of Americans in the streets of New York City and Washington D.C, waving flags and shouting "U! S! A!" over and over, I was reminded of the scenes broadcast all over on September 11, 2001. Scenes of extremists in countries with a profound loathing for the United States, cheering at the news that thousands of Americans got up to go to work and died as the towers fell, or in a field in Pennsylvania, or in the Pentagon. I remember thinking it was so disgusting that anyone could actively cheer at the death of so many innocent human beings.

So my attitude today has been a little more somber. You won't find me cheering in the streets (on the contrary, I spent my day driving back home from Mom and Dad's, and then cleaning my apartment). I said as much on Facebook and was immediately chastised by a couple of ladies I know about this being "different." They both fancy themselves Christian (though one spends her Sundays watching NASCAR and drinking beer, so there you go) and their replies to me were filled with, "of course we're not cheering the death of an innocent man--he was evil, he deserved to die."  I'm not going to argue--he was evil. I'm not sad that he's gone. But I grow very weary of using the words "deserved to die," because one of the biggest issues that firmly keeps me away from most organized religion is this sense of "we are in the right, and you are not, therefore you deserve what comes to you." When one man decides that another deserves to die, it skates perilously close to playing God...and I'm not comfortable making that call.

To quote many fine soldiers who have lived and died: "War is hell."

I'll say it again: I am not sad that Osama bin Laden is dead. I hope it brings a lack of leadership to al Qaeda, but I fear that it will just renew their fury and their crazed need to bring pain on the western world.

Instead of feeling jubilant or morose, I've decided that my best course of action in the wake of all of this is to continue supporting our troops--I'm sending weekly cards to my soldier pen pals (I've even received a letter from one, thanking me for the support, which was lovely) and doing what I can--one simple person--to live life in a way that is true to myself but also not actively setting out to hurt others.