Mass Shootings No Longer Surprise Me

I had more of a reaction to my desensitization.

Photo by Maurício Mascaro via Unsplash

I woke up this morning to what everyone else woke up to. Nine dead and 27 injured in Dayton, Ohio. Right on the heels of 20 people killed in El Paso. Three in Gilroy. Three shootings. 32 people. One week.

When I saw the notification on my phone this morning, I had no reaction. None. I looked at it and then put the phone down.

I didn’t open the story to read more. I made no audible noise. I had more of a reaction to the notification of the Yankees beating the Sox yesterday.

I have become desensitized to the slaying of innocent people in our country by people who were born and raised in our country. It’s just another day in America, folks. Nothing to see here.

What have we become? Has our capacity for empathy been completely depleted? Where do we go from here?

I remember when I used to feel more. These acts would burrow deep down into my core. They sat heavy there.

I was in my third year of teaching high school when Columbine happened. I remember the devastation I felt. Everyone hurt…