Norway's Pain

What was he thinking when he went on a hunt for a notorious place in history? Why did he do it?

I know that people care why a lot. I don't think that caring why someone did something changes anything. It also doesn't bring any sense of comfort to the victims. Why did they fly planes into two buildings? Why did they kill their fellow classmates? Why did they snipe people off the highway? Why did they blow up a train? Why did they...do anything?

Why gives us a reason so that next time we're ready for it.

Sure that's good for the authorities to figure out, but that's not something people who are part of the circumference of pain from the event care to know about day of or days later. Shreds of their life lay sprawled out on the ground. They're thinking how to pick them up, put them back together and be whole again. They don't care for the why as much as the what now and how do you I continue living?

Lives were lost. Why someone did it doesn't bring them back. It also doesn't bring much comfort, it just raises more questions. What could I have done to prevent it? What could I have done to protect my love ones? Why didn't I just let them stay home? Why not someone else? Why didn't I say this before I said goodbye? Those are the whys, those are the questions. It sucks, because preventing him from doing what he had done is easier to notice with hindsight. It's going to be easy to blame, as well. Blaming is a fun game among siblings and friends when it comes to who left the spoil milk in the fridge or who farted, but not who to pin a freak's decision to spread pain in the heart of Norway.

It's his fault. His reasons are not reasons anyone needs to worry about right now. Healing is the option that best fits. Anger is broiling. Bad decisions are birthed in anger.

I wish that news outlets would choose this moment to find out anything they can about the victims and speak about the victims' lives that were cut short and how great they were. What they wanted to be. What they consisted of, not what this inane human was made up of. Human is stretching it.

I believe that healing is the best course of action for a nation or community dealing with this sort of devastation. In healing together, they do fortify themselves for the next wave of pain. Having a great source of comfort in people who uplift those around them allows a situation like this to heal instead of scab, but never forget.

The victims of this Norway event are important. Their stories are important. Their lives, no matter how short they might have been, are important to many people. Sharing those stories on the news instead of worrying about what sparked this onslaught will show that if you kill, you do not get to bask in the glory of the media's love-fest from jail or postmortem.

It is not going to happen, but I can hope.

Norway has a fairy tale-esque feel to it. Bad things like this don't just NOT happen there, they're most likely NOT supposed to happen there. It's hard to hear the death toll rise. It's hard to think that it really happened.

I don't have much to offer Norway. I do hope that stories flood the news of the victims and their lives more so than news about the destructive evil that brought about pain and suffering. I want to know about the victims. They're special because someone thought they were and are and everyone should know of them. It is the least the world could do.

Picture.

Who's the Bully?

Everyone has encountered a bully in their life. They range from the ones that just call you senseless names to those that use brute force to get your lunch money. Sometimes you meet them in school or the workplace. Other times you might be related to them. There are the few that use humor and play off what they said as a “joke”.

The “it’s a joke” statement is weaker than the American Dollar. If it’s so obviously a joke, there’s no need to say it’s a joke. It’s like when an older brother hit’s the younger brother too hard and the younger brother starts to cry. The older brother, to avoid the tattling that is about to happen, tries to sooth the pain with, “I was just playing…” It doesn’t make the punch hurt any less because the idea was to play. It still stings. I don’t get why people have a hard time seeing that words can sting just as much, no matter if the idea is to make people laugh at someone or together.

A bully tries to get into your head. They want to implant their vision of you inside your mind. They’ll do it by manipulation of you and your friends. If your friends fall for this manipulation, then they lack the social strength to withstand a bully’s barrages. They’ll turn on you to avoid being attacked. Creating a terrible situation that makes you think you’re wrong because “everyone” is against you. If you ever find yourself in that situation, remember that it’s easier for people to complain than complement. Ask businesses. Think about it, when was the last time you told a company they were doing an awesome job? When was the last time you told a company they were doing a terrible job?

It is easy to detect a bully by the way they speak. They use many areas to display their power. They’ll comment on how smarter they are than you based on where they went to school. How rich they are based on how much money they get. The idea that they’re better off than you based on degree and wealth is a pathetic marker of excellence and a great gauge of a bully. They may also use their position (work, school or if online popular status) to engage others to pour their dislike all over your every sentence or comment. A form of harassment that is ignored by anyone who is higher than said person. Why? Because if someone’s not punching you in the nuts, it’s not abuse.

When someone discusses a person they do not like, listen. You can tell a lot about a person based on how respectful they are to someone else, especially if that person is someone they don’t like. It’s not necessary to fawn over those you dislike, but it is equally unnecessary to refrain from hatred that suggests they’re the reason humanity sucks (even if it is true). Disliking someone because they spit in your cereal is one thing, but to dislike someone just because you don’t like their viewpoints is another. When discussing viewpoints it’s the viewpoints that are being discussed. If you go into the person’s looks, family or anything that’s personal and has nothing to do with what their viewpoints are, you’re a bully.

If the person’s intent is to harm someone with their words like a weapon, that is fine, because that’s what words tend to do. They also tend to be a double edge sword, at times. However, if the intent of the person using words is to murder someone’s reputation, that is not okay and that’s when they morph from a word fighter into a bully. Yes, it’s a fine line, but anyone welding words knows where that line is and if they lie and say they don’t, well then, they’re the epitome of a BSer.

When someone gets in front of an audience and seeks gratuitous applause for their lackluster thoughts and they bow to the will of the mob by feeding them bloody morsels of public figure’s reputation, that’s a bully. Mobs are only as smart as the emotional stability of the host.

Or in this case the feeder.

Bill Maher is the epitome of a bully.


Image