16
votes
Becoming numb to American violence
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- Title
- 11 people injured and suspect in custody after 'random' stabbing in Traverse City Walmart, officials say | CNN
- Published
- Jul 26 2025
A mentally unbalanced person just randomly stabbed 11 people at the local Walmart, six of whom are in critical condition at the hospital.
Our little city has terrible mental health services availability, a dire seasonal tourist overcrowding situation, major cost of living, infrastructure, and healthcare issues. I've often wondered what goes through the mind of someone who runs amok, what provocation was the final straw. Nearly every culture has examples of this, but the incidents are uniquely deadly in the U.S. because of our weapons culture and normalization of violence. And apparently, a pocket knife is a deadly weapon in the hands of a sufficiently deranged person.
I've been fielding texts from friends and family, providing reassurance that we're fine, don't know anyone who's been injured, etc.
I find myself struggling with a numb, empty feeling over this event, and some anger at the people I haven't heard from in months or years pinging me. I feel like, "it's just another day in the U.S., what did you expect"? Hardly a day goes by without a school shooting, drive-by, nightclub massacre, what have you. 50,000 violent deaths a year from guns alone, and you're going to freak out just because you might know someone affected?
I was there in a group meeting with a bunch of parents of Parkland, FL students when the shooting was announced. A medical clinic I was working at had a truck driven through the front doors by a disgruntled patient. I've been 15 feet away from a car being stormed by Federal agents armed with submachine guns. I've had three friends commit suicide with guns over the years, and one family member who had to be talked down from suicide with a gun in his hand. I just don't know if I can feel anything about these occurrences anymore. I've had the nightmares and the counseling, I've no idea if this is the cumulative equivalent of PTSD in a war zone.
I haven't reached out to people I know in the community for fear of hearing that someone I know was injured, or that they're also getting barraged with check-ins. I don't know what more to say about this or what help I'm asking for; I expect I just need more processing time.
I sympathize. I saw another report on this event where, as usual, the news interviewed a bystander who said something along the lines of 'you just never think it will happen where you live'.
Every article about this sort of event has that same commentary from a bystander. And like... no. I do think it'll happen where I live. This kinda shit happens everywhere in the US. Every state, big cities, small towns, schools, churches, grocery stores, parades, concerts, parking lots, the list goes on. Couple months ago a dude shot two people (and then himself) in a pharmacy near me. Was shocking for all of like a week and now it's practically ancient history for everyone except the families involved.
I know this post is about violence in general, and the attack today was a knife one rather than a gun one, but Sandy Hook is the one that made me really think that nothing is going to change in this country. The speed at which we just moved on from that made me realize that we as a society just don't care enough about fixing this sort of thing. And since then there's been countless more incidents like that and each time they last a few days to maybe a couple of weeks in the national spotlight, and then they are forgotten until the next tragedy.
Since you mentioned Parkland, I remember reading about how there was this one girl there that had actually been present for Sandy Hook as well. I remember thinking how fucked it was that this poor 17/18 year old girl had survived not just one but two horrific school shootings. What a fucking lottery to 'win'.
I checked in on the friend of mine that works in Walmart in Kalamazoo. Because, like, what if.
We had multiple shootings on our campus this year. No active shooters, just isolated shootings. But it is overwhelming.
Trauma is cumulative whether primary - you're experiencing the trauma directly, or secondary/vicarious - you're getting it from media or from those that experienced it themselves. It's a newer area of specialization and understanding but it sounds like you're dealing with both.
Take the time you need but please ask for and accept help if you can when you're ready. The world is hard, and we hear about the worst things the quickest.
My DMs are open if you need a space