Get Involved

Michaela and I went to the movies last night, to see “Finding Dory” for a friend’s (of Michaela’s) birthday. It was lovely– six, 6-year-olds excited to be at the opening night of the movie, their parents happy to see each other, and cool air conditioning at the start of a weekend that’s supposed to be dangerously hot.

You know how most theaters these days have an area on the floor and then the rows start to go up, stadium-style? Michaela and I ended up sitting in the bottom row of the stadium-style part. I was on the aisle and she was next to me, on my left. When you walk in the theater, down the long walkway, and finally emerge into the part where you can watch a movie… our seats would be on your left, and we’d be the first people you would see upon walking in.

It scares me and it makes me angry and it pains me to say that as we sat there, I thought, “if someone came in wanting to shoot this place up, we would be the first ones shot.” I looked around for exits, I thought about which way I would tell Michaela to run, I pondered what I had on me that I could use to try to distract or injure the shooter (just my purse).

I hate that this has become a part of our lives. I hate that there are people who place the right to own guns over the right to enjoy a movie. I hate that there are so many people who are angry, who take their anger out on innocent people. I hate that so many people can’t get mental health services until it’s too late. And I’m tired of waiting for other people to fix this problem. I’m getting involved. You should, too.