From Blou: "It's going to be a LONG time before I'm ready for any sort of school shooting humor."
I do not wish to, in any way come off as insensitive. Most of us have, or will, come across different forms of tragedy in our lives. Humanity is a cruel lot. Long ago I spent a brief period of my life being very depressed by the world around me. I'd watch the news, people dying, bombings, shootings, murders, fires, wars and clandestine torture chambers. I'd see friends fall by the wayside from depression and drugs, friends raped, friends losing loved ones, children dying. They are plenty of tears to be had in this life. Some of us, for whatever reason (if there is a reason at all) are destined for more than others. And I thought "what right do I have to be happy when so many are suffering?" I became so hypersensitive it nearly made me suicidal. To make a long story shorter I overcame all of this and live my life as happily as I can. I count my blessings and try to help others around me whenever I can. There are good days, bad days, sad days, and sometimes fantastic days.
So what about humor in regards to tragedy and inhumanity? I appreciate that you do not find school shootings even remotely funny. And they aren't. But I think humor is a defense mechanism that helps us cope with the evil in the world. Would you want those types of "jokes," whether you think they are funny or not, banned? Is Dave Chapelle funny? Tropic Thunder? Remember the space shuttle jokes? Princess Diana jokes? Blazing Saddles? Soldiers and Emergency Room physicians regularly make jokes to handle the horror they often witness. Would you condemn all forms of such humor whether they be a casual quip on a regular day or as an intense reaction to a traumatic moment?
I have a friend who lost an arm. He's a mile a minute with one armed man jokes (How do you get a one armed man out of a tree? Wave at him.) I have a friend who lost part of his leg in an incident of negligence. He was able to sue for a nice settlement. He often says the money he made didn't cost him an arm and a leg -- just a leg. . . maybe other amputees, still not done coping, would find such talk extremely offensive and insulting.
Am I making sense here?
