Thoughts on Vegas · 4:28pm Oct 2nd, 2017
I was born in Las Vegas.
I have a lot to say here. I'd like to preface this with an acknowledgement that I am a self-centered human being and most of these thoughts revolve around me. Honestly I'm not sure how else a self-conscious human being is meant to process the world around them, so maybe I have no reason to apologize. Regardless, I'm sorry if this comes across as selfish. Continued below.
I was born in Las Vegas. Of all the insane, devastating events that have taken place over the last couple of years, disasters natural and otherwise, this is the one that has hit me hardest. Not only is it a mere 400 miles from where I live, but it is extremely easy to imagine an alternate universe Ponky who heard the gunshots.
I despise country music, and I would never go to a Jason Aldean concert -- alternate universe or not -- but people who do like country music are far from evil. If anything, living in the community I do now, I find country music fans to be a generally simple lot: a group that appreciates things for how they are, that enjoys feeling connected to those with similar experiences and world views, that doesn't look for or care much for symbolism and deeper meaning. A song about fishing is just a song about fishing, and if you're a cowboy who wants to see your girl naked, you just sing about it flat out. I'll admit there's something charming about that, even if it doesn't improve my personal opinion of country music at large.
No one -- no one, from decent country music lovers to adult fans of children's cartoons -- deserves to be criticized for their harmless preferences. To imagine an assailant firing for 15 minutes into a crowd, gathered to enjoy something innocent together, is to imagine no less than a demon.
Yet, on that vaguely religious note, one of the most bothersome things to come from these disasters is the dreaded "thoughts and prayers". I think it's very important to think about these tragedies, and even to share your thoughts with loved ones -- as I'm doing now. And while I don't subscribe to the supernatural anymore, praying could be a great way to focus one's ideas and meditate on what matters most. However, the generic "My thoughts and prayers are with ____" boils my blood. It seems nothing more than a hollow substitute for actual meditation, a mandatory declaration of acknowledgement that, while easing the mind of whoever Tweets it, truly does nothing for the victims of disaster.
I don't know what there is to do -- blood donations are needed in Nevada. Billions of dollars are needed in the wake of the hurricanes. The entire goddamn country is in need of some sane leadership. But for the most part, I am incapable of helping in any significant way. Modernity brings a curse along with its many conveniences: we can know so much about what's happening in almost every corner of the world, and instant news spreads from screen to pocketed screen in the wake of storms and shootings, but unfortunately, while the human brain is capable of absorbing and considering a great deal of information, we were never really meant to know about that which we cannot influence. We're supposed to care about our little clans, our tiny circles and communities, to contribute where we're needed and where our "thoughts and prayers" might actually have meaning.
Instead, most of us don't know our representatives in congress, let alone our mayors or the folks on city council. We only care about the President and the hundred pots he's stirring. That's not good! An enormous majority of Americans will never meet the President, nor would they have any influence on him if they did. But we can meet our mayors and the most influential citizens in our communities, and we can find ways to help the needy right where we live. But communities go largely ignored while news networks blare in the living room, scaring elderly Americans with news of changes and disasters that, in a world without cable news, would never affect them at all.
I'm not saying it's not good to know what's going on in the world. Like I said, modernity is both a curse and convenience. It's amazing that I can reach into my pocket and find out what's happening in Florida while a hurricane skirts past a dear friend of mine. It's relieving to hop on social media and instantly find out if your friends in Paris are safe from insanity. It's good to read an article outlining what I can do to help the victims in Vegas. But for the most part, the only thing news makes me is sad, simply because I'm drowning in disasters near and far without the means to really do anything meaningful at all.
It's torture. It places me in a position in which I am both aware of pain and unable to relieve it. It's torture.
More than fifty people are dead in Vegas, and hundreds more are injured. Imagine fifty people. I mean really take the time to think about fifty whole human beings, fifty individual people that you personally know. Try to imagine them in a room together, and how much space they would take up. The Daughter Doo is currently being read by around 30 people, and even that is a number that often surprises me when I try to imagine a face for every reader. 50 people are dead. Thousands of lives are directly changed by one lunatic's mysterious rampage, and millions upon millions instantly know about it. For what feels like the hundredth time in just a few years, we are reminded of fear injustice and danger, the danger of the disturbed with a rifle.
I won't pray for Vegas. I don't believe anyone's listening. I'll be thinking about it a lot, pondering what lessons are to be learned from this, dwelling on the lives of those lost to needless violence, cherishing the dearest relationships I have with the full understanding that they could be severed at any moment by choices that are not my own. I don't have any solutions to the problems of unfocused media, gun violence, and nationwide anxiety. It all just makes me sad.
But you make me happy, Wonderfolk. Reading your ideas, knowing you're alive and bright and brave, recalling fond memories together and believing in more to come, it all makes me very happy. Thank you for bringing a bit of light to a Ponky's darkened world. It's wonderful to have you here.
Viva Las Vegas,
Ky
If there was ever a blogpost that should be spread far and wide, it's this one.
Wow you know it's got Ponky riled up when he takes the Lord's name in vain.
Now to the serious part. I work event security for a living, that's concerts, clubs, festivals,conventions. Things of that sort.
I've dragged people to medics who've needed (thankfully after they got there) the defib. I've had people lose an eye in a fight, I've seen more blood and vomit I ever want to. I've had 2 co-workers murdered in cold blood in the last 2 years (both shot)
"Thought and prayers" No, every time I hear that phrase I hear "That's a shame, let's move on."
You know what I did when Vince died? I spoke with my MP (congressman equivalent) and tried to explain the difficulties of my job and how she could help me, hell he was murdered in her riding (district for those of you south of the border)
Nothing came of it, as one might expect, but I DID SOMETHING! You don't have the right to offer your hopes and prayers until you've done something. As I've said recently to someone else it doesn't even have to help the victims directly. Someone gets shot across the country, give blood. Natural disaster? Go help in a soup kitchen.
Help your fellow man, if you can't help those affected then spend your time helping those around you. If you're not going to do anything to help those in need then make you generic apology and shut your mouth, don't try and spin it like you're making a difference when you haven't even tried.
My thoughts and prayers are with ____"
This is not inherently a bad phrase. If the person who says it actually takes the time to sit down and
pray for the sake of those affected, then they very well may have done everything they reasonably can. They also probably believe they have actually helped, if they took the time to do that.
What I find irritating is when people say this with _no_ intention of doing even that. When they _are_ simply virtue signalling, and the only effort they expend is to tell everyone how much they're "thinking" about the tragedy.
I'm on mobile so my response here is truncated, but I largely agree. I'm less optimistic about our handling gun violence. There's a popular tweet that makes the rounds when things like this happen that roughly says, "in retrospect, Sandy's Hook marked the end of the US gun debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over."
That sums up my feelings nicely about the status quo.
I agree with you, Ponky. I really do, and I honestly wish there was more that I could do as well. But the one thing I do when things like this happen is think. I talk with people. I want to know what happened and why this happened. I wish I was there, on the scene, to see this awful spectacle and do something. When you're stuck in Oklahoma, where sports is about the only thing that goes on around here, I would rather be shot at and risk my life for others than attempt to scrape by a living.
However, sometimes, you cannot do anything, and I think that is a valuable lesson that we must all learn.
I'm from vegas, out of state as a student right now. When my friend started telling me what was happening, I spent all night watching the news. Luckily nobody I know personally was there, but seeing the footage and realizing I've been there and walked those streets many times, I could place myself in their spot. It was terrifying. Violence like this hits particularly hard when it happens at home, and I never appreciated that before. It's been a dark day.
Is it wrong of me that my first reaction was "Oh, no....not THIS shit again?"
Terrible things happen. I don't know anyone who was there, and I won't pretend to pray for them.
You're right, that there's so much of the world that we can't ever influence. So I try to enjoy the time I have with loved ones, and I try to better the lives of people around me. The rest, I try not to worry about.
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Depends on what you're reacting to I suppose. No matter how heartfelt this blog post is the fact is that thousands or even millions of people are experiencing at least one of the spectrum of common viewpoints and reactions. This is but one of them, given modestly more weight by the writer's personal experience and connection to the context.