Bothered

It's been bothering me this week, this lack of kindness, of understanding.

I almost cut a guy off today, leaving the gas station. It was one of those moments where I didn't look to my left quite quickly enough. I saw him in time to stop before turning in front of him, yet he looked at me like I was terrible, raised one hand in a, "What was that?!" gesture, and drove on as though I'd ruined his morning. And I realized that we're all smarting a lot more than we think we are from events of this week.

On Monday, two bombs went off and killed three innocent people. They blew legs off of others. One man was there to proudly cheer on his marathon-running girlfriend, and he left with no legs.

Yesterday, a large group of Senators decided that we don't need stricter background checks when it comes to buying guns. Tonight, a police officer was shot and killed at MIT in...Boston. As I write this, the suspect is still at large.

I have friends who believe that background checks--background checks--infringe on these so-called 2nd Amendment "rights" that we have to bear arms. Let me tell you, our founding fathers never intended nutjobs and paranoid people to have assault rifles. Every time I see one of those, "protect our 2nd Amendment rights!!" posts on Facebook, I actually feel bile in my throat. I've been called a "libtard." Well, maybe so...but I want protections in place that make buying a gun a little more difficult.

Every time I get a new teaching position, I have to have a background check. I just signed a paper yesterday allowing a background check be completed on me for a summer position I've taken. I do it because there are valid reasons to ensure that someone who will be in a classroom, working with kids, is on the up-and-up. I respect that, I honor that, and every single time I've had to take my own valuable time (and money) to go in and let someone roll my fingertips over a LiveScan machine, I've been absolutely fine in doing so if it means people have the peace of mind of knowing I can be trusted with children.

No one questions that doing background checks on teachers and school employees is essential. No one questions that giving a test for people who want to operate motor vehicles is logical. We routinely put our belongings through X-ray machines at airports, federal buildings, etc. to prove we have no ill intent.

And then, the same people who don't bat an eyelash at any of this go completely fucking nuts at the words "background check" and "gun sales" in the same sentence.

It makes me so angry.

It's been bothering me this week. I've been trying to approach life and other people with a little more kindness in the last few days, but I'm not going to lie, it's been difficult. This month, as a whole, has been supremely odd, from Echo passing away at the very beginning to the absolutely bizarre things happening in the world this week. I'm ready for the day to come when we stop letting our Senators be governed by corporations and start making them stand up and do their jobs. Anyone who voted "no" this week deserves to lose his or her seat in the next election, and ought to be ashamed.

For now, I block posts from the people who are so rabidly pro-gun on Facebook. It's not worth losing friends, and some of these people are people I really care about. In the interest of harmony, I just block out the hateful stuff, and strive to keep my own posts there positive.

Peace, my friends.