It's A Crime

A place to be heard. A place to share. A place to connect. A place to just be.

For whatever reason, you decided to shoot another human being. Maybe you think they deserved it. Maybe you think you have a good reason. Maybe you just didn't think.
Maybe you didn't think about the others your actions would affect. Oh, maybe you thought about the immediate families affected - yours and the victims. But did you think about Jim, the man scheduled for his knee replacement surgery that got cancelled at 6:00 A.M. that morning because the doctors were using the operating rooms trying to save the victims? Did you think about the pain that Jim needlessly endured because he couldn't use pain medication for a week before surgery? Did you think about Jim's children who had arranged to take time off work and fly here to help their mom and dad? Now they won't be around to help when Jim does get his surgery. Did you think of the other families affected because their surgeries were cancelled? Did you think about what they had to go through?
What if it was one of your family or friends waiting for an operation? And how about the doctors, nurses, and other staff and their families. Did you think of them? Did you think of the staff and customers of the surrounding businesses and the trauma they and their families had to go through? Lost wages because they couldn't go to work and the ripple down effect of that.
And if you think your actions don't affect you, maybe you should think again. Everyone is affected by the higher cost of medicine. Maybe you could think about that the next time you buy something - noticing the P.S.T. and G.S.T. The taxes we pay for the cost of police, for the cost of the medical system. Then there is the after care cost of the psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, office staff, and much more. Maybe you could think about it next time you complain about paying income tax.
Then there is the cost of the legal system and keeping and feeding you in jail when you get caught.
You have changed the life of more than just the person you shot.
Let's play "what if" for a moment. What if one of these innocent bystanders is so traumatized that they can't work and they lose their job and go on welfare? Now they are controlling your life indirectly because you are supporting them through your taxes.
So you see, everyone is affected by your actions - even you, even if you are never caught. If this gets even just one of you out there to change your action - if even one life is spared, my prayer has been answered. Thank you for thinking.