Keep Your Chin Up

Nathan,
You are truely gifted.

Nate,

I'm not a man of many words (this is a lie).

I don't, however, tell someone they did something that warrants merit for shilling out bullshit. I don't like people who, when something like the VT tragedy happens, try to be the first to their computer so they can create the biggest and bestest and most heartfelt Facebook group that sends out the most love to the students and their families. I don't like the kind of people who join these groups either, but alas, I digress.

You write for a humor site. That means, to all of us readers, that we click on the column links, yours in particular, to read what we know to be a decent quality writer taking everyday situations and spin them funny. That's what you do, and that's why you have a readership who, like myself, escape to your column every week or your blog every few days in order to get a chuckle and perhaps an insight. Or perhaps a stripper joke. Again with the digressing.

Now, I've watched my fair share of media coverage on these events the past few days that has showcased everything from crackpot lawyers (one in particular that I won't mention here) that bemoaned this tragedy as the work of violent video games long before the name or motives of the killer were released, to the truly touching, truly heart-wrenching scene of the VT students gathered together at the convocation on Tuesday.

All that being said, nothing that I have read or watched in the past few days, barring that service, has impressed me or rang as true as this column did.

Your ability to, as you put so well about a week ago, find that "place for sloppy, sophomoric writing, just so long as the ideas behind the writing were neither sloppy nor sophomoric" is no more evident, tasteful, poignant, and well-executed as it is here. This could be taken out of the narrow context of the Tech shootings and applied to any tragedy of the human animal, and it would have relevance in the same simple-yet-effective way you managed to pull off here.

Cait hit the nail on the head; I'm just glad you're able to share that strange gift of yours with those of us who couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Keep it up,

The Dude.

Cheers to that, brother.

I love when you write things like this.
You always were my favorite.
Thanks.

Nate,

After the Columbine shooting, and the sheer mind-numbing fear that went through me during that last month of high school; I found myself gripped with one question. "Why wasn't it me?" Strangely, that's the same question that Jello Biafra (this is the eighth time I've referenced him to someone in the last 24 hours or so) was juggling on his spoken word album <i>Become the Media</i>.

I have done my best to avoid any interaction with the media, as they have this great tendency to point fingers and blow speculations on motives way the fuck out of proportion.

As for your column, I think you're right. There's really no honest way of stopping this problem. Sadly, I fear that this may only get worse as time goes on.

Indeed, keeping one's chin up is probably the best thing that can be said.

Sorry this is disjointed, sleep deprivation can do that to a normally solid working brain.

Cheers.

Nate,

I've been a Hokie PIC fan and reader for a long time. Your article was heartfelt and meaningful even though when I started the first paragraph I was skeptical. Thank you for expressing the words and thoughts I wasn't able to....And if they ban gambling and SEX. I might just snap and go crazy as well....haha.

Cheers,
Matt Franklin

Great article, completely agree.

I just wanted to add that the PT Cruiser joke was hilarious.

here here, well put. it's a shame that more people don't realize this and stop with all the finger pointing bullshit and start working towards healing instead.

Great article Nate... Great job.

One of the very few articles you have written that actually meant something to me and didn't piss me off. Moment of silence for VT.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You, in the space of one extremely well-written article, have managed to sum up this whole shitty situation. The media is way too focused on the killer, which minimizes the victims and makes Cho more relevant than he needs to be. The sad thing is that the media is gonna keep milking this, keep shoving mics and cameras in people's faces, and not give the families and friends of the victims space to heal. You know: Blood, guts, and misery= ratings and sales.

I've got to ask, not by any means to take away from Nate's great article, but simply because it needs to be asked, how is the media hoopla any different than a nationwide toast to the killer? Aren't they doing the same thing as Nate? Reminding us all how easy it can be to become a monster.

Sales need to be made and ratings need to go up and this sucks when it's at the expense of the privacy and healing process of the victim's families, but I can tell from the thoughtful and concise comments that you're all intelligent and compassionate people who, quite possibly, are only feeling so devastated and affected by this because it is being thrown in our faces by the media.

They may be scumbags because they may not have the best intentions, but they do help to turn this event from a story in Virginia to a tragedy that is in your home. And I hope that will help everyone to take notice of how easy it is to cross the line.

I liked your post alot Nate. Thank you for treating this event with respect and sincerity.

Thanks for all the kind words. It seems kind of vain and evil to say that considering the topic here, but thanks, anyway.

Todd, I don't know about the politics of the thing or the importance of the media and all that, all I know is that what happened royally sucks and that it's happened before and it will happen again. I never claimed to be bright.

You're right, there is no right answer to the "why" question. This hellish phenomenon of school shootings has been a real, scary, part of our generation. We all know the people that we thought would snap in high school and murder someone. But most of us never experienced it. But what makes the ones that snap so different? The worst part about this whole thing is that people are using it as an excuse to come together. Just like 911, we all come together during a tragic event like this. It shouldnt be that way. The american public is so afraid of itself. I guess I mean we're all afraid of each other. I'm convinced that leads to most of the violence in our country. People should accept and RESPECT each other, like you said. Well written...I'm done now.

<i></i>Nice :)

Right on again man. Just started reading your stuff a few weeks ago but you and I seem to be cut from similiar molds. All the hand wringing bitches are out in force again begging for complete gun control. On the other side we have gun nuts who've never had to fight for their life before opining that guns on every student legal to carry would've saved lives. Personally, I'm all for more guns on the street in the hands of trained private citizens but there's only so much we can do. Evil fucks are out there period. Who cares about their psychology? What matters is that they are with us and always will be. Evil simply is and manifests itself whenever it feels like it. Toughen up society, watch your loved ones backs, and prepare to go all the way should you ever have to.

I hope my comment didn't make you think I was insulting your intelligence Nate. You're article was right on and you're probably my favorite writer on the net. Sorry if it came off that way.

As many others have said, thank you for writing this. I also toast to Eric and Dylan. I went through the same shit they did, though probably not as severe. However, I never considered going on a murderous rampage to avenge what had been done to me. I have grudges, and I always will. I shouldn't, but I cannot forgive those who treated me like shit. I was an easy target for some classmates to pick on, and maybe that was my fault. I do think that those people are going to have karma take a nice huge chomp in the ass for what they've done. Some of them have grown up and have seen the error of their ways, but others will never change.
Both situations remind me of a Dane Cook skit where he is nice to the weird guy at work, bringing him candy bars and such. When the guy does snap, he will remember how he was treated by certain people and won't kill the people that treated him with respect, whether or not it was genuine.
My best friend was killed in a car accident on Friday April 13th. At the wake, there were several people from our class that attended who ruthlessly teased her and mocked her for the music she listened to. When I saw those people crying, it took all I had not to physically hurt them. I was furious that those people had the gall to show up and shed tears for a girl they harassed in high school. I understand that people can see the error of their ways, but a death of a classmate shouldn't be what turns on the switch of the guilt or morality on in their conscience and make them realize that what they had done was wrong. I’ve been told that it is because those people are insecure or they are jealous. I don’t believe that. I believe that some people are mean, nasty people in general.
Once again, thank you for sharing this with us.

Nate-

I, too, didn't know where this was going as I started reading, but that doesn't even matter. I dug what you wrote here--it still has the Nate Way about it--yet there's a different tone, somber at times. It's cool that your asking these questions and pulling us in.
But this is what it's all about--for now--especially if the goal is to understand each other a little bit more and to even embrace (rather than merely tolerate) each other's differences.
Someone's always exploiting someone else's sorrow; but if all of us are using this little space to be aware of that and think about those college kids that died, and enter into this conversation with each other, it's a space well used.
Write on

Research "John Locke".
He'll explain everything.

Great post, nonetheless.

"<i>Why won’t heal families and friends, Why won’t save lives, and <b>Why won’t prevent something like this from happening again</b>.</i>"

You don't think that by finding out what causes this type of behavior, we can help prevent it happening in the future?

Anetta, you are correct. Knowing why someone snapped will not prevent someone else from snapping. Everyone snaps in their own way.

Seeing you write about "respecting people" is like Bill Clinton speaking about fidelity.

I do agree with you that we will not be able to rid ourselves of Evil. But we can overcome it with goodness.