On Violence

I've often related the gentility of my community. However, because of my work as a contractor, I work with a lot of guys, and a few gals, who see violence as a viable, if not ideal method of resolving conflict. I had to fire a guy last week. I'd had a conversation with him the evening before the termination, listening to his concerns (spoken emphatically!), and stating my position (calmly but firmly). I woke earlier than usual the next morning, and pondered what my scheduled morning meeting might bring. The dispute boiled down was trivial, but it involved an unreasonable person and his livelihood, and a budget. This constituted irreconcilable differences. I resolved to wear contacts instead of glasses, in case I had to take a shot in the face. I've not caught many punches, but I've encountered enough to know that they are considerably less pleasant with glasses, and if your assailant is determined, that ducking business in the movies is pretty much bull shit. In summary, he didn't hit me. I payed him, he grumbled and left. I was later told by a mutual acquaintance that my concerns were founded, just about a decade too late. Even violent people are aware of the time it takes to heal from even a mild scuffle. And so parted two people, more or less acquainted with violence, unharmed.

I'm not trying to suggest that contractors as a lot, are violent. They are tough, generally grew up in circumstances where all of the "schooling" doesn't come from a teacher, and work in an environment where the aggressor is usually pretty identifiable. After all, revolutions are born of the artisan middle class, not upper middle management. Suffice it to say the job site's conflicts are not resolved with declarations that one's behavior is "inappropriate, or unacceptable." If one is genuinely admonished to shut up, one does or begins to size up his would be opponent.

Honestly though, these thoughts seldom cross my mind. They just happened to be recent, when I read today of yet another school shooting (reported by KRQE.com and NPR), and an even more bizarre shooting in a movie theater (reported by The Tampa Bay Times and CNN). In the school shooting, two students appear to have been wounded when a thirteen year old boy opened fire, fired into the sky, then gave up his gun and was apprehended by a teacher. This I could comprehend with the lexicon I've been given by recent horrific events. This tragedy will be framed in terms like adolescence, access to weapons, emotional trauma, etc. I am not diminishing the gravity, or pain of this shooting. I simply want to point out that it has the marks of a terrifying trend we are witnessing. And trends, however disturbing are more comforting to we humans than no pattern at all.

The school shooting made me wonder if we couldn't understand the recent apparent surge in the mass shooting of innocents as some grotesque bell curve. Is it possible that as a society we've abandoned the ways of the O.K. Coral in favor of civility, only to be victims of our own civility? Maybe the absence of violence particularly gun violence in the median population divorced us from the tragedy of it. In a culture where gun violence is common place (I'm thinking of America circa 1700-1890), the damage the gun caused, direct and indirect was familiar. Not to mention the general brutality of the time. There was far less separation in the agrarian south between the bucolic farm and the dinner table. And in the north though the factory worker might be able to buy his sausage from the corner store, he could easily see his limbs and digits turned to sausage on the factory floor. The taking and ruin of life was not abstract. Maybe it motivated us to be more gentle, for everyone's sake.

The theater shooting, dashed what little solace the recognition of a possible pattern was giving me. In this case a retired police officer (aged 71) seems to have been the shooter, and the victim, a forty three year old man who was texting loudly in a movie theater. I am by no means a pacifist, nor do I feel that a blanket ban on fire arms is the right approach. However, it gives me great pause to think that someone trained to use a fire arm, familiar with the damage a gun can do (at least some cursory experience, one imagines), and one hopes not subject to the pitfalls of the developing adolescent brain would never consider something like this. Now, the investigation is ongoing, but one tidbit of the current coverage really bothers me. Apparently, after an initial argument the alleged shooter left the theater, and returned, and that's when popcorn was thrown by the victim, and a shot was fired. At best, there was a pause. Step back take a breather. Then still violence? At worst, the gun was in the car, that is a disturbing amount of evil intent.

My wife and I have discussed purchasing guns. We both grew up in households with guns. I can see value in hunting. And, I do have a vague sense of fear for my family's safety. Neither of us suffer from mental disorders. And in my development I encountered violence, in the school yard, on the wrestling mat, and in adult places too, where it definitely does not belong. I think I'm prepared to be a responsible gun owner. Whenever I shoot, I'm keenly aware that the utensil I'm holding is designed to efficiently end life. All signs point to use being responsible would-be gun owners. Today I'm wondering, can anyone be?