~ We are all Hokies today ~

so as all of my Devoted Readers should have realized by now, I tend to shy away from serious topics. For the most part, my depression over the past few months has been documented (which I have decided stems from from both SAD and being in school) and I like to rant about Deval Patrick, but even those rants are few and far between. But this massacre at Va Tech bothers me (i think it also bothers me when people call it VT or VTech, only because it's always been Va Tech in my house and I don't deal well with change. - but that's my weirdness) to the point where I am going to use some blog space to make my feelings known. I'm not placing any blame on anyone, except for Cho Seung-Hui, may he Rot in Hell. But I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of changes on college campuses in the future, that most likely will take away a lot of the students' personal freedoms. They will be put in place to save the students and faculty from another psychotic killer which is certainly an objective we can all rally behind, but still, the fact remains that because of one seriously twisted and sick individual there are going to be people losing more of their freedom. Will there be a Pre and Post Va Tech world like there is a Pre and Post 9/11 world? Will I be telling my children my own college stores and have to pre-face, "now remember I went to college Pre Va Tech " Will fees for colleges go up like fees on airfare went up so colleges can implement more safety measures? Don't misunderstand me - sometimes we have to go for the greater good, and I don't want another massacre to happen again. If colleges need more safety measures on campus , then so be it. But the more freedoms we give up, the easier it becomes. This kid was sick, and people noticed. He had been legally declared a danger to himself and others. His professors were so freaked out by him, that one of them tutored him individually. He never talked to anyone, never made eye contact with anyone. He raised red flags, and yet this is the result. He has destroyed 33 families and hurt so many others. Why? Because he was sick and twisted. He clearly had no grip on reality. And, even more disturbing, thought of Erik and Dylan as martyrs.

You may notice I there is no clear thesis statement in this post. That's really because I'm still confused. While I don't want any more freedoms that we all enjoy to go out the door, do I ever want this to happen again? no. But what's the trade off? We already live in fear. 9/11 pretty much caused that. How much worse is it going to get before we all just blow each other up? How much hatred is there going to be? People are willing to kill other people, even in this day and age, because they are "infidels" (read: not militant Muslims). That's not normal either and they clearly have no grip on reality. Why are people today so sick in the head? What is causing such a warped view of life? God isn't going to give you 77 Virgins in heaven if you kill someone. God isn't going to too pleased with you when you go on a shooting rampage at your college and murder innocent people. For Christ's sake, the professor that barricaded the door was a Holocaust survivor and THIS IS HOW HE DIES? Yeah, somehow I don't see God or Allah or whatever higher being you believe in looking too kindly on that.

So, I must bring my rambling non-cohesive, almost stream of conscious post to an end, because I have to go back to work now. Maybe I'll clarify later on. Maybe not.