The news trucks and drama surrounding the shooting at El Camino Real High school this week have been a little overwhelming. The shooting incident was scary. Thank goodness it did not involve a student, but happened right off campus. The entire LAPD, fire department, and SWAT teams swooped in within moments and turned our little neighborhood into what felt like a war zone. We were blocked in to a 7 square mile perimeter. Our home in the middle of it all. We couldn't get out of our neighborhood to get our kids from schools in Calabasas. One of our children was on "Lock down" at the High School. Being the only teenager in the universe who regularly forgets his cell phone, we couldn't talk to him to make sure he was ok, and not terrified. We were watching the drama unfold on television, as we listened to it outside. We couldn't go outside, because an armed gunman was on the loose, supposedly trampling though back yards trying to get away from the police. It was surreal. We are so grateful for the police response, but it does leave a few questions. Was it prudent to lock down over 7,000 students in multiple schools scaring the pants off kids and parents? Was turning the traffic in an already congested area into absolute madness, and locking in a whole community for 9 hours, really the only way? I absolutely understand that this guy was really dangerous, and I do not claim to have any training on these matters, so I am not really trying to question the wisdom of the LAPD on this, just commenting on the collateral damage. The news vans surrounded the high school the entire day after. How does interviewing high school kids, and any passer by walking their dog help catch a would be killer? Do we need to keep the drama stoked for another few days? Keep the kids keyed up and talking about it? I get and appreciate the police response, I even appreciate the news response as it was happening. I do however, take issue with the continued drama.... can't we just thank God no one was killed or seriously hurt, and focus on tracking this guy down?
I am helping to prepare a baby shower for a young woman at our church. She is young, just 22. Thinking about her, and what the future may hold for her and her little family, got me to thinking about life at 22. Much has changed for me since I was 22. That was really a difficult time. I didn't realize at the time that it was difficult. I had graduated from college, was having a post college, pre-real life, super good time. I was bar tending, partying, picking up and traveling to far away places to party some more. I didn't really have much in the way of financial responsibility yet, and my parents were living in Egypt-- leaving me in charge of the house and my younger sister. It was an "out all night, sleep all day", kind of life. To be honest, I was setting a pretty poor example for my sister, who at the time was working full-time at a nursing home, and was far more responsible than I was. Looking back at that time, and even later, till about age 25, it make...
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