Massacre Fatigue is REAL
Virtually every time there's a mass shooting, the first thing I note is the number of folks who opine we never thought it could happen to us (or here).
There are also times when I'm just taken aback by the abject stupidity of some folks. Apparently, Jordan De La Garza for Texas is one of them.
As a Columbine parent, I would ask him if he thinks Columbine is a 'dead horse'? It's often cited as a bellwether for other school mass shootings. I would also ask him if he gets that the families impacted by the Robb Elementary school massacre will NEVER truly "have what they need" (speaking from personal experience as a result of the Columbine massacre)?
It appears Mr. De La Garza deleted his Twitter account after this Tweet. Might that be because of the pushback he received?
But I digress.....
Please excuse me if I sound more than a bit cynical when I ask if it's really that much of an inconvenience that news coverage of mass shooting massacres interrupts regular television programming? Can't watch favorite sporting events? Soap operas?
It would seem that bitching and complaining becomes some folks' modus operandi following these kinds of incidents.
So, I assert that Massacre Fatigue is not a new phenomenon. It's just known by a few other names.
After the Aurora Theater massacre, for example, the term Massacre Fatigue came into widespread use to describe how society began to view how these sorts of incidents played out in the aftermath.
Following the massacre at Columbine High School, as another example, Columbine Fatigue came into use. In fact, following that massacre there were many who got angry that, according to them, Columbine families received so much help, and then kept asking for more ala Jordan De La Garza opining that the Uvalde families "have what they need" (Columbine receives, asks more and Enough milking of tragedy). That perspective was taken by some of those impacted by the massacre (myself included) as being more than a little offensive.
Families affected by mass shootings get bombarded by media, family, friends, hospital staff, psychologists, psychiatrists, grief counselors, law enforcement officials, public officials, and more.
Does anyone outside those communities even have a clue as to how fatigued these families eventually become, and will be for the rest of their lives, by the nightmare that was thrust upon them?
Whether anyone realizes it or not, accepts it or not, to some degree these kind of massacres define those families merely by association. How they individually choose to let them define them, or whether they choose to take an active role in defining themselves as a direct result of their experience, is entirely up to them....not to those who express Massacre Fatigue due to all the media coverage.
So, please forgive me if I don't feel one little bit sorry for those outside each community impacted by a mass shooting massacre if they're feeling a bit of massacre fatigue themselves by virtue of their having to be subjected to what they consider to be too much media coverage of the massacre itself. Truth is, those kinds of folks don't have a freaking clue as to what true Massacre Fatigue is. Not...clue...one!
Those folks really do need to get a grip.
So, my bottom line is if you haven't personally and directly been impacted by a mass shooting, don't even think about talking to me about your own massacre fatigue! Your protestations will fall on deaf ears.
My two cents, and rant over.
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