There's at terrible, tragic story being reported in theWashington, DC news about this teenager who was shot and killed by a neighbor when the teen boy mistakenly entered the wrong house on his suburban street. There are elements here of the Trayvon Martin shooting, but there's less vitriol for the shooter in this case, who was clearly just defending his home.
The nub of the story is this 16 year old black male was dropped off by his friends after a night of partying. The kid was drunk and, regrettably also very new tot he neighborhood. His family had moved to the block a couple of weeks ago. So, this drunk kid somehow enters the wrong home -- one that looks a lot like his family's new house 2 doors down the street in one of the richest suburban counties in America. The boy sets off the alarm and the armed homeowner then challenges this intruder, finally shooting him.
It's another senseless death in a country that is armed to the teeth and literally at war with itself. it reminded me of a stupid mistake I made a few months ago. In reflecting on it, I've realized that this event which became, for me, an hilarious story -- a charming anecdote that I told to almost everyone I know -- could have ended very horribly for me, instead. The story follows, below the squiggly thing....
I was shopping, I guess. To be honest, I don't even remember the details anymore. All I really remember is that I headed into the parking lot, and there were three or four nearly identical silver sedans parked next to each other. I hit my electronic key and then opened the door to what I was sure was my car. I should have been tipped off by how much cleaner it was. Maybe, even the stick shift should have clued me in to my mistake, as I slid into the driver's seat. But, no such thing, except I was looking for my coffee mug.
I kinda freaked when I heard a noise from the back seat -- someone talking. I wheeled around and found myself looking at this precious little baby boy....his daddy, who, fortunately, was looking at his kid....probably thinking I was his wife.
I made a hasty exit from the car....and later joked to everyone about my abortive carjacking.
The thing is, in this gun-happy, shoot first, ask questions later country we now live in, this funny little vignette might have turned out very differently.
We need to change, in profound ways, if we're to avoid a lot more incidents like the ones that took Trayvon Martin and this promising teenager who was killed in the Virginia suburbs this weekend. I wish I knew the way to make people stop being so damn afraid of each other -- and so quick to shoot each other at the slightest provocation, or even for no reason at all. I don't know if we've lost our humanity and community, or whether we never really had it to begin with. Human history is full of violence, I know. However, I'm also convinced it doesn't have to be this way. What's lacking is respect for each other, and a humanistic belief in leaving the world a better place than we found it. We're all here for a very short time, but it shouldn't be this short.