Arizona

Oh, for the love of God.

Therapist: AZ shooting may be sign we are a traumatized society suffering from "emotional violence"

Look, I live here. I chose to move here and stay here.  So by not being a native, I think that would probably make me an even more insidious Arizonan by some peoples' standards.  I chose/choose to stay and live in this apparent cesspool of hate.

I'd make some joke about just being here for the weather but La Nina's messing up even that.  I heard it was warmer in Hawaii last night than it was here.

And honestly, I like it here.  You don't live in a place where it's 120 degrees in the summer because of the scenery.

I went through a lot of crap where I lived before and left it behind.  I came here for a fresh start and have done well.  I don't look for excuses.  I am aware of my shortcomings that hold me back and choose how to deal with them.  I'm not held back by SB1070, falling housing prices, or any of the other problems in AZ.  This state is not without its problems, but I choose how to react to them.  I don't choose to gun down people in a parking lot as a way to react to society's ills.  Mom taught me the Golden Rule and I still live by it, regardless of where I am on Sunday morning.

You know what I did this weekend as a response to the shootings in Tucson?  I gave blood.  And not just blood.  Double red.  I felt like crap for a couple of hours, but I did the one real thing that would make a difference to someone out there in AZ.  My words and my anger meant nothing to anyone else because they all had their own.  My red blood cells might have saved a life.  But I'm such and evil Arizona racist hater.  (And I know it's not charity if you brag about it. I didn't give blood thinking it would help a victim of the shooting in Tucson.  I gave blood to make me feel like I'd done something.  I'm selfish that way.  Oh yeah, it worked.)

I don't think anyone who reads this blog is going to tell me I'm a racist hater.  I know we have good people who read this.  I know you all care and take care of your own and don't look for someone to kiss your boo-boo and make it all better.

I wish that more of America was like you.

And if there are people who think I'm a racist hater, please let me know cuz I need to react to my suppressed emotional violence somewhere.  Better here with rhetoric and vitriol than in meatspace. /sarc

~~Code Monkey