Happy Shitty Anniversary

Hard to believe that Columbine happened five years ago. That was an awful day.

I remember watching the coverage from the group home that I was working in at the time. One of the residents was watching the coverage with me. She had about 20 functional words, due a massive stroke twenty years ago, but it was somehow nice to have at least one person to watch it with.

A lot of other shitty things have happened over the past five years, making the staying power of that day even more impressive (for lack of a better word--maybe profound is more appropriate). I imagine we can all remember exactly where we were when we learned we beat the Russians in hockey, both space shuttles blew up, 9/11, and now Columbine. I don't know of any other infamous event that every person of my generation can instantly recall.

It's interesting how 9/11 has swept this story under the rug. Until then, it seems like six to ten times a years, there were similar school shootings on a smaller scale. Last year there was a school shooting in Minnesota, but that is the only post-9/11 school shooting I know of.

What happened? Did these shootings never make headlines anymore, or did school shootings suddenly subside? I truly don't know the answer to this question.