Nina In New York: Enough Is Enough, Yet Again.

A lighthearted look at news, events, culture and everyday life in New York. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
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By Nina Pajak

I don't often comment on the horrible events of the day. I like to keep this blog light, a fun distraction from the crushing weight of all of the truly devastating happenings in this country and around the world. It's as much for me as it is for anyone reading: I need to inject humor into my life, or I'd probably never sleep again. But I'm tired. And I'm sad. And the very fact that I, random American citizen, feel fatigued from the extreme yet commonplace violence in this country makes me feel physically ill. So many things I've heard, said, read or thought in the last few days have struck me as hideously unacceptable, tiresome, pathetic. They make me feel ashamed for us all, because I know they're not unique to me. This is a shared experience none of us want to continue sharing. It doesn't bring us together. It makes us all feel scared and alone, and a little bit like maybe we're going crazy because how can this be reality?

I'm equally tired of reading article after blog after social media post in the aftermath of another gun incident. And I'm referring to those with which I wholeheartedly agree, about making it more difficult for terrorists and psychopaths to get their hands on high powered weapons. Because after all these tragedies and all these years, the fact that so many other people want what I want and we still can't have it just makes this all the more terrifying and distressing. So here's all the crap I've heard and thought and said and read that makes me want to scream. Because at this point, I think that's what we need to do.

• "Wednesday's OTHER mass shooting..."
• Lawmakers who offer nothing but "our thoughts and prayers." It's not that thoughts and prayers can't be meaningful. It's just that theirs aren't. They just want to keep their dinner plans without looking insensitive.
• "I see this post/blog/tweet every time this happens, it really hits the nail on the head."
• "That thing you sent is great, I read it after the last one."
• A friend's daughter casually mentioned to her parents the lockdown drills her school runs with the kids, which mean as much to her as a fire drill ever meant to us.
• "Bravo, Daily News." Whaaa? What is happening?
• "Typical Democrat/Republican reaction to a mass shooting."
• "How many more times can this happen before they're forced to do something?"
• "Well, they have to do something this time, right?"
• Except Sandy Hook. So, no.
• "Second deadliest since Sandy Hook."
• "Blah blah blah Sandy Hook." Anything Sandy Hook.
• "We need dog food." Because a mass shooting of innocent people shouldn't allow for mundane thoughts to creep in, but at this point needing to buy dog food has crossed my mind fewer times this year than the news of an active shooter has.

I'm not sure what else is left to say. But all we can do is to keep saying it until someone who can do something starts to listen.

Nina Pajak is a writer living with her husband, daughter and dog in Queens. Connect with Nina on Twitter!