searching

I'm aware this may come off badly, but I'm not in the least bit shocked by what happened at Virginia Tech earlier this week. Saddened, yes, but not shocked. I've seen this too many times already to be surprised when it happens.

What I feel is awe, puzzlement, questions. Why does this continue to happen, and in what seems to be an increasing trend? I'm relieved that for once tv/movies/music/video games haven't been the first things out of the collective publics mouth. While some people may base what they do from these pop culture stimuli, if they were the real cause of this kind of violence, would it not happen much more often? Of course, even having something like this happen once it one time too many.

But so I want to know: why? Why would someone have that kind of disregard for the life of another individual? Why do lay their blame on certain groups of people? At Columbine, the shooters cursed the jocks and preps for the miserable high school experience. In this case I saw many times that the wealthy were mentioned in reasons for Cho Seung-Hui's state of distress. Perhaps the package sent to NBC will shed some light on that, but likely not much.

And why never talk to anyone? Did he feel alone? Was it depression? Anxiety? A language barrier? Or was he really just so angry with the world that he couldn't communicate pleasantries? And what was the breaking point? People said in interviews that when they heard the news they immediately had a thought of who it might be. If someone appears this way to people but manages to keep in in check for so long (the suicide counseling occurred in late 2005), what suddenly causes the rampage?

I can't imagine what people at Virginia Tech are going through and feeling right now. I work with someone who has a relative attending VT, and seeing the concern wash over her when the news of the shootings broke was an odd feeling, the concern that is absorbed by people surrounding those dealing with a tragedy. I will probably never meet this other person's relative, but I'm sitting there hoping that they're alright.

But I feel that with the frequency of this kind of violence that rather than looking where to place the blame, we should concentrate more on preventing these tragedies in the future.