I’ve given up on social media as a forum for any meaningful conversation on divisive issues. I just don’t think it is effective medium for dialogue in those instances. So this is just a personal observation. We were in Gilroy last week. We talked about trying to come home in a way that we could stop at the garlic festival but it was highly unlikely. When I heard the news of the shooting, I just had a brief moment of “what if” but didn’t really consider the event in personal terms beyond that sinking horrible feeling of “oh god, not again”. But I wasn’t prepared for how personally the kids would take it. I’ve had two upset text exchanges from kids who feel very personally about what happened. Who are scared by their proximity to this tragedy. Who are shocked by the loss and devastation. Lily sent me a picture of the six year old boy who was gunned down. I should have realized this would touch them more deeply but in all the whirlwind of getting home and then back to work I just missed it. What is upsetting to me about this is how inured I’ve become to these events, how numb and helpless I think we’ve become as a culture. It breaks my heart that this is now so routine that it was only through the eyes of a child that I could feel what should be a natural reaction of shock, horror and even fear. This acceptance of the unacceptable is deeply upsetting. I don’t really know what to do with this feeling so I’m just saying it out loud.