Last week, a 19 year old decided to end his life. He’d been kicked out of his house; his girlfriend had broken up with him, and he’d been fired from his job at McDonald’s. But ending his own life wasn’t enough for him. Apparently, he felt that he was a nobody–and he wanted to go out in a way that would make him famous.
So he decides to shoot up a mall in Omaha, Nebraska. A mall where a very close friend of my coworker worked as a store manager. Maggie had nothing to do with this guy. She didn’t know him; she didn’t know his ex-girlfriend. None of his victims had anything to do with his situation.
So what gave him the right to end their lives along with his?
I remember when I was attending therapy sessions with a former fiance for his alcoholism, the counselor stated that suicide is the ultimate F*ck You. In his experience, most suicidal attempts were made because someone was mad at those around him/her.
I’m upset that the media has released the gunman’s name and picture. It’s exactly what he wanted. I know that no one will remember his name in a year or two (except for the friends and families of his victims), just like no one remembers the name of the boys from Columbine or the boy in Red Lake. I understand that, but I felt that the media made too much information available. I don’t want to see how some victims found ways to hide or hear his message to his landlady.
I don’t get why if you want to die but you want to be remembered, you wouldn’t find a way that would make people think that you were a better person than you probably are. Run into a burning building, go and donate a kidney (not that you’d die from that, of course), but be a positive influence in people’s lives.
When I was in high school, there was a group of boys a year ahead of me. They weren’t popular. They came to school in black dusters or trench coats. But rather than get angry about how different they were, they published the first zines I ever read. These zines sold for a buck or two and came with stickers. They were the rage. Anyone who was anyone was reading these things, which were nothing more than writeups about what these guys were interested in (mostly snowboarding and alternative rock), some photos, and some quotes heard around school.
It’s sad when anyone decides to end their own life. It really is. However, it’s truly evil to kill innocent people in the process.
