Hello and welcome back to Life in Business Casual! Today I'm talking about the recent unfortunate events that took place at my college, Washington University in St. Louis, yesterday afternoon.
Growing up, my family took a lot of road trips. To this day, I'd still take a 13hour car ride over a 2hour flight any day of the week (and twice on Sunday!). My younger sister and I got to travel the greater Eastern portion of the United States from the safety of our back row booster seats. We frequently napped, watched movies, and even played a few rounds of the elementary school classic, "I'm not touching you" to help pass the time.
@Mom, I told you she was touching me!
But now, we've outgrown our booster seats. My sister 17, and on her way to college next fall, and myself heading into sophomore year of college, are now in the ~real~ world--a realization I had a rude awakening to yesterday afternoon. These days, we often find ourselves in the front row, sitting passenger's side or driving the car ourselves. We've graduated from our days bound to those pesky safety seats and are now in control of where we'll find our next adventures, and make our next memories. We're in the real world, a place where we have to be present, and start experiencing time, instead of occupying ourselves to make it pass more quickly.
Yesterday around 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon an alert flashed on my professor's lecture screen indicating that, "A person WITH A WEAPON has been reported on the Danforth Campus. GO TO a place that you feel safe and remain there until further notice." My professor immediately stopped lecturing. Soon after, various chimes and alerts began to sound as the same message made its rounds to every student in the form of email, text, and phone call. Our school went into lockdown.
We left our classroom and made our way to a safe space within the building. Upon our arrival, every group message I was a part of instantly became incredibly active as people began checking in with each other, and spreading information of what they believed to be happening. A message in one groupme read "Someone's been shot on Forsyth!"
"No!" I thought, "impossible", I take that sidewalk everyday to class. Nothing bad can happen in "back row booster seat" world! A place where the sound track to life is filled with "School House Rock" music, and occasional bickering between my sister and I over who's "it" in our game of tag. A place where, the only A-list celebrities were residents of the Hundred Acre Wood. Nothing bad could happen in "back row booster seat" world. Right? Right.
But I'm no longer living in that world I'm living life in the front row, experiencing this in real time. I was welcomed into the real world yesterday. A place where everyday the unthinkable can and does happen. A place where the soundtrack can range from lively jazz to somber alternative. Yesterday, an innocent woman was outside of the building right next door to the building I was in, and shot in the forearm. This made me look more deeply into issues of gun violence and regulation, and the information I found about how little it takes to acquire a gun was immensely unsettling.
Here's a link to a few articles:
- National Journal: Statistics/Charts about Gun Laws in the States
- Common-Sense gun safety Reform
- Gun Laws around the world
I'm sending my thoughts and prayers out for a speedy recovery for the woman hurt. Additionally, I'm sending well wishes for the mental health and well being of this campus and community. Finally, I'm urging all of us here in the real world, to do better--if not for ourselves, then for the generations of those still living life in back row booster seats.
If you enjoyed this post feel free to give it a like! What are your thoughts on the recent events? How did you like the linked articles? Leave a comment below!
Until next time, keep it (business) casual.