Suspicious characters.
Last week I dropped my son off at his preschool at the appointed time. As per usual, the outside doorway was a stream of parents entering alongside their munchkins and other parents exiting without. As I walked back to the car I observed a man who didn’t fit this pattern–walking into the school without a child at his side.
The school is inside a church and there are other programs that meet there beside the classes at that time. There are administrative tasks. The man could have dropped off his child and then realized he’d forgotten something. There are dozens of legitimate reasons for a man without a child to be walking into that building and he assuredly had one of them.
But I would be lying if I didn’t tell you my heart skipped a few beats, that I slowed my step just a bit, and that I worried I was about to start hearing horrible sounds.
Two students and a teacher were shot today at an elementary school in Townville, SC and those who aren’t tweeting their thoughts and prayers are again suggesting we arm the teachers because everybody knows that the way to put out a fire is to douse it in gasoline.
I think of the man walking into my son’s preschool and I hate myself for my overdeveloped sense of suspicion. In the absence of effective action all we are left with is anticipation.
Creative Control 