It Was A Very Long Day

     Earlier today (Saturday 10/27/2018,) I was sitting at the Carnegie Museum cafe trying to gather the rudimentary thoughts that I have about Lemmy Kilmister.  I noticed a more frequent than usual occurrence of sirens going by on Forbes Ave. and suddenly, my phone started buzzing away with text messages from family members that knew I was in the eastern part of the city.

     They were all trying to alert me of the mass shooting that took place at the Tree Of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill.  The situation was still unfolding and no one knew exactly what was happening and everyone wanted to make sure that my daughter and I were safe.  I let the nearest staff person know what little I knew and they said they were aware of the situation and more security staff was being brought in.

     It was a very weird sensation of uselessness that I felt when I sat back down to try to write again. Immediately, everything felt small and pointless.  Trying to write about Motorhead was suddenly ruined by some bigot that couldn't figure out how to handle his own emotions without reaching for an AR-15.  O, woe is me.  At least I made it home at the end of the day.

     At this point, there are at least eleven other people who didn't make it home today.  All because of some anti-semite that got twisted up inside from listening to our bigot of a president and unhealthy doses of Fox News.  This was an act of terror and a hate crime.  Period.

     After a week of people (and the working class union members of the Postal Service) being targeted and terrorized with mail bombs, let's bring it to a close with a mass shooting.  And this is after two people were shot in a grocery store, in Kentucky, for shopping while black.  Way to go Amerika.  What the serious fuck is wrong with people?

     Somehow, this asshole was taken into custody.  I will never understand how a black guy can't survive a traffic stop in this country but a white guy who shoots a building full of people to hell and back is taken alive.  Something seems to be askew.

     This town is going to feel this loss for a very long time.  Everyone's personal Venn diagram is going to come crashing together as each victims life splinters out into our own.  The majority of us will at least know someone involved tangentially.

     The first vigil, of what I am sure will be many, was held in the evening at the intersection of Forbes and Murray avenues.  There was a massive amount of people, all standing shoulder to shoulder as far as I could see in each direction.

     I couldn't help but stare at the haircut from Fox News that was set up near me.  I hope I was making him as uncomfortable as he was making me.  My initial thought was “The balls on those assholes for even showing up” but then it dawned on me that they are completely ignorant of their guilt.  They spew hate and fear twenty-five hours a day and say “Who? Me?” when someone takes their bullshit too seriously.

     Then I saw the Ned Flanders of the House Of Representatives, Keith Rothfus.  He was clearly too stupid to not show up given the fact that he was wearing a jacket that had his name and job title embroidered on it.  I guess he needs a reminder of what it is he should be doing when his corporate overlords aren't around telling him what to do.  After reminding myself that I was attending a vigil, I refrained from yelling “How many more people have to die before you'll do something, Keith?”  I really hope that pigfucking coward will be unemployed in the near future.

     Songs were sung, prayers were prayed.  The never ending process of healing has started. Pittsburgh has joined the ever growing list of towns that have been ripped apart by preventable gun violence.  We'll mourn, we'll march, we'll vote but I don't see anything changing for the better.   The irrational hate will always be there no matter what we do to combat it.

     Normally, if I'm writing at this late of an hour, there would be a record on the turntable but it felt so meaningless to put one on.  My soundtrack for tonight is the future that is snoring on the couch next to me.  It'll be up to her generation to set things right because we have all failed so miserably.

     Eleven people are dead and there are pipe bombs in the mail.  Are we great or what?