I'm rolling over and going back to sleep

This is only me and I don't speak for anyone else on this.

Death.

Per CDC.Gov., 2,596,993 people died in the U.S. in 2013, at least reported. 100% of life, living things, die. That's the way it's rigged. Some would argue the number is higher due to abortions. Maybe so, maybe not.

We, collectively, seem obsessed with the semantics of it. How we die. Vehicular, drownings, cancer, suicide rates, ODs, shootings...on and on.

The family is sitting at the dinner table and mom comments about an earthquake in South America where 100's are reportedly dead and the response is "oh, that terrible. Pass the butter, please".

Numbness. Indifference? Self-preservation? Perhaps a bit of both.

I'm not making light of it. We've all had losses that have left voids in our lives. Yet to fixate on death reduces life in and of itself.

Some people get teary eyed at the thought of capital punishment while others merely shrug. Some are stunned at the indifference of abortions while the rest change the subject.

I see a report of a massive pile-up on an interstate in the newspaper and after making sure it's not on my route, I move onto the sports section.

"Don't ask who the bell tolls for, it tolls for thee". Sorry, but 2.5 million tollings is enough to put ear muffs on. So the current 'shrug' versus 'horror' is mass school shootings. Yes, it's sad. Yes, I change the channel.

Why? My AR-15 is locked up and has done nothing. My car sits in the garage and hasn't cause a vehicular death. The pool that I can't afford has not drowned one single child. The list goes on. All are technically preventable. Every single version above.

7,000 people die in pools and spas annually. Mostly children under the age of 15. All i hear is crickets on that 'issue'. Nary a word. Perhaps now you might get a glimmering of the reason 'gun control' ( a fraudulent name, in and of itself) gets no traction beyond the media and those that are triggered by these acts. The rest of us? Not.

Now add in apparently those that are 'triggered' by the shootings aren't triggered by the other examples I cite. (That's not a criticism, merely an observation.) The reaction being 'your not taking my gun, my car or my pool....on and on. Perfectly understandable in that light...one would hope.

To those outside the U.S. who look down the noses at these events, I would rebut, no, no mass shootings in Iceland. Now add in no 40,000 vehicular deaths in Tibet. Almost no pool drownings, I'd venture to say.

Life-style differences. No more, no less. Each nation is and has different life-styles. The truth is you have your own 'numbnesses' just like we do. They may be the same in some instances and different in others. The same mechanism applies to you just as much to us. So...deal with your own numbnesses. Ours' are ours to deal with...or not. Not yours.....with all due respect...(Mods)...

So i roll over and go back to sleep. That sleep is a bit more deeper and content. My AR is nearby....

originally posted by: nwtrucker
So i roll over and go back to sleep. That sleep is a bit more deeper and content. My AR is nearby....

If your AR is not Locked-and-Loaded I can't give you a S&F. Loaded guns don't just go boom all by themselves.

Be honest now.

originally posted by: Cigarettes

originally posted by: nwtrucker
So i roll over and go back to sleep. That sleep is a bit more deeper and content. My AR is nearby....

If your AR is not Locked-and-Loaded I can't give you a S&F. Loaded guns don't just go boom all by themselves.

Be honest now.

I confess. Not locked and loaded. The 9MM is though....

My fingers are locked and loaded.

ATS is a safe space.

Now I am going to roll over and go back to sleep.

What's winning without losing? What's life without death? Murders happen...pass the butter please.

We should ban the words gun and death and replace them with lollipop and "the farm".

a reply to: nwtrucker

As my drunk uncle screamed one night at a family gathering, you can't kill somebody who's already dead inside.

originally posted by: underwerks
a reply to: nwtrucker

As my drunk uncle screamed one night at a family gathering, you can't kill somebody who's already dead inside.

You can make it official, though.

originally posted by: EmmanuelGoldstein
We should ban the words gun and death and replace them with lollipop and "the farm".

Those words may be offensive.

Better make it kittens and rainbows.

As Stalin once said, "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic".

I saw the same numbness during the last recession. People on the bus would talk about people being laid off. When it was down in London, it was "Oh, it must be awful to lose your job like that.". When it was local offices, it was "the fellow down the road lost his job last week. Been there ten years. Married with kids Now fears have to look to go down South or abroad. Thinks he might have to emigrate to Australia."

a reply to: nwtrucker

Natural. Selection.

You can't save everybody from the "debt that all men pay".

I've got better things to do than subject myself to endless emotional self-flagellation every time something bad happens.

People need to grow the "F" up. This is the game of Life, and Death.

a reply to: nwtrucker

...the response is "oh, that terrible. Pass the butter, please".

change the subject.

I move onto the sports section.

Yes, I change the channel.

Numbness. Indifference? Self-preservation? Perhaps a bit of both.

Thats three, not 'both'. Heres two more; denial and narcissism.

Meh, who cares anyway, right?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: nwtrucker

...the response is "oh, that terrible. Pass the butter, please".

change the subject.

I move onto the sports section.

Yes, I change the channel.

Numbness. Indifference? Self-preservation? Perhaps a bit of both.

Thats three, not 'both'. Heres two more; denial and narcissism.

Meh, who cares anyway, right?

Yep, cherry pick from the OP. As usual,, your in the minority on it.

a reply to: nwtrucker

Nobody cares, remember?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: nwtrucker

Nobody cares, remember?

Your words. Not mine. It won't work, but nice try.

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: nwtrucker

Nobody cares, remember?

Your words. Not mine. It won't work, but nice try.

Your words:

I'm rolling over and going back to sleep

Translation: "I don't care."