Irrational Fears

I've always thought of myself as one of those people that judges risk wisely and never does anything that will cause any sort of unsuspected fears or danger. I respect the fact that my school is really safe. I awknowledge the fact that I've traveled solo across the world to a place that most would deem 'scary' or 'unsafe'. I pretty much love some risk, but never do anything genuinely stupid.

Yesterday, there was something that instilled a little fear in me. The four words I kind of never wanted to hear: subject with a gun. See, if I lived in a bigger place, this wouldn't be so rare. Thankfully, I live in a fairly mild city where it is a big deal to have a gun. And with all the media about school shootings, we've been preparing. But I never thought I'd experience the horror of one. I must say, there was no one injured in this incident. Again. There was NO ONE injured. That alone helps me to believe that what I do, what WE do, is nothing short of amazing.

So where does the fear come in? Now, after realizing that things like this happen everywhere, I've been thinking about what I would do. What would I do if I got shot? Would I be left there and have to find help myself? How long would it take for people to find me? Or notice I was missing? In my randomness, would everyone just think that I'd gone off on some spontaneous trip? And the list goes on... and on... and on.

Then the other part hit me. There was a man with a gun on campus. For real. Not halfway across the country. Not with some delusional school kid weilding mass weaponry. No. This was real. And it is frightening. We prepare for the 'could have', 'might have', 'would have' situations, but it's incredibly different when it's in your backyard (or campus, in this case).

A quick moment of respect for those that put their lives on the line every day. For the ones that collaborate to get the best possible outcome. For the extraordinary ones that do the things the ordinary won't. Thank you to the ones that keep me and the rest of the nation safe.