Morning news

This morning when I turned on the news, it seemed like it was nothing but stories about people being shot. Twelve people in Alabama, sixteen in Germany, the gymnastics teacher and bank employee here in Huntsville, the husband and wife in Madison, the football player in Lawrence County, the woman in Mobile, it just went on and on until I couldn't take it anymore and turned off the TV. The one in Alabama - what makes a person shoot babies? I don't think I really want to know.

The other week, I had an appointment with my much-loved OB-GYN who is pretty much an awesome doctor. Usually. But on this particular day, I don't know if it was because it was early on a Monday morning, or if he'd had a bad weekend, or what, but both he and his nurse were WAY off their game. They spent half the appointment telling me horrible stories about children being beaten or killed, and while I was nodding politely the whole time (because who isn't polite to the individual rooting around in one's lady bits with a pipe cleaner and a set of salad spoons? that's just common sense right there), inside I was mentally curling up into a ball going LALALALALA-STOP TALKING ABOUT DEAD BABIES-LALALALA. Then, the topic abruptly veered into religious territory when the nurse sighed, "You know, I just don't know how long the Lord's gonna let us go on like this, killing and hurting each other." And while she and the doctor enthusiastically discussed this new topic, I reflexively curled up into an even tighter mental ball, thinking, CAN WE PLEASE GO BACK TO TALKING ABOUT THE DEAD BABIES? because there's nothing more awkward than a religious conversation, especially when you're wearing nothing but a paper tablecloth.

But today, after I shut off the TV, and I was sitting alone in the dark living room, thinking about all the families who've recently lost their loved ones to random, senseless violence, I thought of what that nurse said. And sometimes, on days like today, I kind of wonder that myself. How long can we go on like this? Then again, the human race has generally been at each other's throats since before we learned to walk upright, so my guess is an awfully long time.