I am sad tonight. Very sad.
As a culture, we tend to sensationalize death, and it’s only when the numbers rise that we stop to pay attention to the the aftermath. It’s only then that we stop to take a good look at the victims and wonder why things had to happen this way. It also usually helps when the victims are white, but that’s a topic of another discussion and I won’t go in to the obvious racial discrimination that occurs in the media.
As is common for me, I was reading through some news on Google and came across this news story. For those that are too lazy to read the story, I’ll just go ahead and quote a relavent portion of it:
A man apparently despondent about losing his job killed his wife and five children before turning the gun on himself, officials said Tuesday.
The bodies of five children and two adults — the children’s mother and father — were found Tuesday in a home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington. Among the dead, authorities said, were an 8-year-old girl and two sets of twins — 5-year-old girls and 2-year-old boys.
In Lupoe’s suicide note, he offered a detailed account of his and his wife’s work circumstances, calling the family’s situation a “tragic story.” He ended it by saying, “So after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone else’s hands.”
Sigh. I can understand being sad, despondent, and tortured about losing a job. I can. I’ve been there. I’ve been in that moment and wondered, “Now what am I going to do?”
But to kill yourself, your wife, and your five kids? What does that accomplish? I’m an Atheist, as I’ve said many times before. I believe that the only time and the only place we have is right here, right now. What purpose, then, is served by ending the only life you’ll ever know? The greatest “Fuck you” that you could ever dish out to anyone would be to live, to succeed, and to move on.
I’m so sad that these kids have missed out on experiencing life because their parents couldn’t see past their own trials and troubles. I’m just so sad about this, and I’m sad that things like this happen many times a day. I’m sad that we live in a world where people view life as expendable and cheap.