Shootings/Entitlement

Three people died yesterday. Three more were injured; 2 critically. Scores have been damaged mentally and emotionally. And why?
Because some individual did not get what they wanted; didn't get what they wanted!
And that excused; in their mind; at least for those few horrible minutes; the reason to unload a gun on innocents in their OWN departmental meeting.
That was a premeditated; vengeful; selfish; and an egocentric act.
And I believe traceable to our Societies "entitlement" mentality.
We've been raised and are raising individuals that believe they can not be anything but winners.
Then when something doesn't go as they believe it should or they are confronted with "failure"....
Well surely, it must be the fault of others and they must pay.
So there are rants on Facebook and/or My Space; public tantrums by adults turned 2 year olds; nervous breakdowns leading to family dissolution; or the IDIOTS decide to injure innocent individuals sometimes before committing suicide.
I am going to be cruel and mean and coldly heartless here. If you are so dead set - no pun intended - on being terminally dramatic. Do society at large a generous favor; MAKE THE FIRST BULLET YOUR OWN!
News flash people! No one; no one owes you a thing! Get off that idea!
There are gonna be good times and bad. Up times and down. Sometimes you will get what you think you deserve; sometimes more. And here's a little news for ya; sometimes you aren't gonna get squat.
Yep. That's the way life slaps you in the chops. You'll work your proverbial butt off and not one thing will come of it. Except; if you've got a smidgen of character; the satisfaction of knowing you've done your best.
This bit about always being a winner and always getting some kinda reward is a load of crap. It isn't reality. You can't walk away from every game you play in life a winner.
Sometimes you come in second or third. Sometimes you flat out lose.
If you are a person of character and have true pride of self; you grow and learn. You take the information gained; pro and con; from the experience and move forward. And with any luck, you come out better for the time.
Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion; it's time to teach individuals how to fail or accept criticism. How to deal with disappointment without lashing out in harmful let alone fatal ways.
We need to teach people to accept individual responsibility. It's time to stop assigning blame to others. As the saying goes, put on your big girl panties and deal with it.
And that includes the punishment for the perpetrator. She needs to be locked away forever. She needs to listen to a tape of the screams and havoc replayed once a day. And she needs to listen to tapes of the victims' Families speaking to her as they express whatever they need to express at least once a week for the duration of her life span.
Cruel? No. We're not giving her the death penalty. We're just giving her lectures and education. And if we do it for all murderers; it's not unusual. And the Families can change out the recordings periodically to give her variety. It will be therapeutic for them and it will keep the prisoner from becoming "bored to death."
And those are my thoughts on this day after the slaughter of good people by an essentially spoiled brat. Shot by an adult who did more than grab her basket ball and stomp off home because the game didn't go her way.
If prison can be used as an ultimate time out; then so be it. Maybe while she's there she can learn the error of her ways. Too late for her; but learn none the less. Time out is where she should go. After all, she chose to place three there eternally.
OnceAgain

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T