VT SHOOTING: One Week Later

Today marks exactly one week since the Virginia Tech shooting. There isn't much I can say about it that hasn't been said - the condolensces, the disbelief, trying to focus attention on healing rather than anger and allowing that anger to lash out at innocent communities (the Koreans).

What I will comment on it is my own reaction. I first heard of the shooting from the news blurb on my cell phone while riding the train to work. At that point they had only confirmed one dead (I think this was before the gunman made it to Norris Hall). I am ashamed to admit that, although saddened by the idea of anyone dying, I had a somewhat desensitized reaction to it. By the end of the day, however, when I read about the extent of the massacre - it began to sink in.

I have spent this past week absorbed by the media. I read the profiles of the victims, looked at their websites and myspace pages. I read about their families and hometowns. I searched sites like flickr for pictures. I wanted to connect to the people - make the victims more real in my head.

A part of me feels really sick for doing this. Am I falling victim to what our society/the media wants us to do?

I sat there with tears rolling down my face as I read through the lives lost. I wanted to be affected by it. Yet, I cannot begin to fathom what the people who actually know them are going through and when I'm done reading the article, I shut down my computer and go on with my life.

What are we to do in times like these?