Sadness Turned into Mayhem, turned into Chaos, Turned into More Sadness

(c) The Real Deal
Title by P.Lynne Designs

I have been intrigued lately by the many ways people decide for themselves to end a life.  I am filled with sadness because of recent events in this country.  As I think about these events, I am always left with the question of why did this particular event happen.  I want to break down the event that happened yesterday.

I do not live in or near New York City.  I have, however, visited it many times as a child because my mother’s sister lived in the borough of The Bronx.  In case you are not familiar with that area, the areas of Manhattan, Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and The Bronx are called boroughs, not suburbs, like the ones where I now live in Columbus, Ohio.  It is confusing, to say the least, but not as confusing as some states are called Commonwealths, not states.  Another lesson for another day

I am not sure where this hospital in The Bronx is located at, but the news story mentioned that a former employee, a doctor, went into the hospital, took the elevator to the 16^th floor and started shooting.  He killed one doctor and injured several others.  I also heard that he was let go in 2014 or 15 for sexual harassment. After going to the shooting rampage, on both the 16^th and 17^th floors, he took a bullet to his head and killed himself.

As I watched this event on Youtube, my mind went to several other recent events, where the shooter killed someone, then took their own life.  It seems to be a common as of late.  The home my parents bought when we first moved to Columbus had a tragic ending.  The previous owners were killed that way.  This was the couple’s second marriage, and they both worked for the State of Ohio highway patrol.  They were police officers.  They were on their way to work when the wife ex-husband opened fire on them.  They were both killed, and soon afterward, he killed himself.  This was back in the 1980’s.

Back to yesterday’s event….

I wonder what goes through a person’s head as they prepare to kill someone.  Do they think about the events that lead them to an act of killing?  It had to have been humiliating to find out that one day you have a job that you love doing, and the next minute, you are filling out an application for employment or unemployment.  In this doctor’s case, was he able to find a job after he was let go from the hospital in that time?  Sexual harassment is a serious crime that in the court’s eyes needs to be proven, such as the case of Bill Cosby, and I do have a say on that case back when he was first convicted of the crime in 2015.  I wonder if this doctor was not able to find employment because of this accusation? 

After The doctor was not able to find employment (I assume), I wonder if he blames the hospital for that situation.  Upon this discovery, I wonder if that was when he started plotting his killing spree.  There are so many unanswered questions that this doctor will not be able to tell the NYPD (New York Police Department) because he is dead.  They will have to piece together the events through the many witnesses that were there when it happened.

  Now my attention turns sadly to the doctor who was killed.  He did not expect to die that day.  He probably got up, kissed his family, and went to work to help people.  He may have stopped in the cafeteria, or at a food cart, a habit that many New Yorkers enjoy doing daily.  As a child, whenever I visited my aunt, I used to get the Italian Ice from the cart, not far from my aunt’s apartment with my cousins.  When we visited her and my uncle in 2003, which by that time, she moved to Brooklyn, I bought a pretzel from a food cart. 

Before this doctor arrived at work, he might have taken a taxi, Uber, or the subway.  Subways are a more common to travel in New York, than the bus.  I also remember this as a child.  It would take 3 trains to get from my aunt’s apartment to their church.  Another 3 to get back home.  If we had to go downtown for anything, it was another 2 trains coming, and two trains back.  In fact, my aunt was stuck on a train during the 9/11 event.  They finally had to manually open the doors to let people out.  She was 5 blocks from her apartment in Brooklyn and did not get home until 11 PM when she normally gets home at 6 pm.

Yes, things are not the same when someone goes on a killing spree.  Things get turned up expectedly, and you pray that you get to be one of the survivors.  I thank God that I have never been part of this madness, both as the shooter or as the victim. I am also lucky that none of my family members or friends have thought about doing this, or have been a victim to these types of crimes to my knowledge. 

You think that life is going to be the same, and one attitude, one side remark, or one act can set things off.  They say that all of us in the world can crack any moment.  This world is that volatile.  Even saying hello may set someone off.  It is a shame that people are not more helpful.

My takeaway: 

There is no takeaway, but there is a lesson to learn here.  Be mindful of another people’s feeling.  I am not saying that the hospital should not have fired the shooter.  When you fire someone, there are tactful ways of doing it, and I am afraid that no matter what you say to the person who is being fired.  You never know when they might snap.  I think that is one of the reasons you are pulled into a room to be fired.  This is the one fear I have when I start hiring people. 

As for the doctor who was killed, his family will have hard times ahead.  I am sure that every birthday, holiday, or annual event will come with great sadness. When each of my grandparents died, I would become sad when an event would come up, but I am happy that I will get to see them someday.  I would remember the good times I had with them, and wish I have gotten to know Paw-Paw Will, my father’s father.  I am sure he would have loved me.

Do me a favor and hug your family.  You never know when it is the last time you will see them.